North Sea drilling is not the answer to our energy problems
4 min read
The urgency of the climate crisis is undeniable. The next 12 months are pivotal for advancing the global phase-out of fossil fuels and leaving a livable planet for future generations.
Once again, the British billpayer finds themself at the mercy of a geopolitical crisis. For many up and down the country, energy shocks and price hikes sadly feel like a ‘new normal’.
That’s no surprise – but it isn’t something we should accept as inevitable.
Britain is now more vulnerable to the volatile fossil fuel markets than any other G7 country – and it is political timidity that has led us here.
Your heating bill might not be at the front of your mind at the moment as we battle sweltering temperatures. But why is it we are a country that is simultaneously lying awake struggling to stay cool in yet another record-breaking heatwave, and unable to get a grip on soaring bills in freezing temperatures?
No matter what the weather, things feel broken. Last year, the UK had its hottest ever summer, as well as the driest spring in over a century. Record-breaking wildfires ravaged our countryside, and severe rainfall caused major flooding.
For those losing sleep, energy dependency and climate complacency are the same nightmare. Rising bills and a burning planet are both driven by our overreliance on imported fossil fuels. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. Backing a transition to clean energy and ending our dependency on foreign oil and gas would cost the UK less than a single fossil fuel price spike on the scale of the 2022 crisis, driven by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
But if energy costs are your concern, why not let the drilling begin? This seems to be the only question the fossil fuel lobby wants us to ask. But while letting private companies drill for more oil in the North Sea sounds like an easy fix, the reality is it won’t cut bills or deliver energy security for British people.
This is a feature of geology, not a piece of political spin
The facts remain this: the hundreds of North Sea licenses granted by the Conservatives over 14 years have produced the equivalent of just 36 days of gas for the UK. The North Sea reserves have been in terminal decline for years. This is a feature of geology, not a piece of political spin.
Opening new oil and gas fields will barely make a dent in our projected dependency on oil and gas imports; we’ve been a net importer for two decades, and new drilling in the basin won’t change that.
Drilling can’t resurrect an industry in terminal decline. It won’t protect the jobs and livelihoods of North Sea communities for the long-term. A serious plan to accelerate the switch to renewables could. It could protect jobs and prosperity, delivering fair outcomes for workers most affected here in the UK.
If we close our eyes and pretend the North Sea basin has a long-term future, we’ll just be ushering in another nightmare; the chaos, division and devastation of mismanaged industrial decline, which ravages communities.
Clean energy can form the bedrock of the UK’s industrial base. Green technologies now provide more than a million jobs and nearly half a trillion pounds in investment. These jobs have consistently higher wages, and the industry delivers double-digit growth that far outstrips the wider economy. It’s vital that the UK sends the right signals and backs the industries of the future – because if we take the lead, we can set the agenda, making sure that our North Sea communities reap the benefits first.
There’s more good news: the public are on our side in this fight. Polling shows that voters want to see greater action on protecting our climate and building resilience to climate shocks, like fuel price shocks.
Fossil fuel giants and shareholders aren’t lying awake at night worrying about the cost of heating their homes, or tossing and turning, struggling to keep cool in extreme temperatures. The top 100 oil and gas producers made more than $30m in profits per hour in the first month of Trump’s war in Iran alone. They – not British billpayers – should be picking up the tab for climate chaos.
The next twelve months are a critical window for us to deliver energy security for voters, to show leadership on climate by doubling down on our domestic ambition with a fast and fair transition. We can also lead the charge at this year’s critical summits, with the possibility of propelling the global fossil fuel phaseout, whether it’s UN Tax Convention negotiations or COP30. Then, in December 2026, the UK takes on the G20 presidency for a full year, with the opportunity to put climate action front and centre.
The next year could be pivotal for advancing the global phase-out of fossil fuels. Let’s leave behind the zero-sum calculations and finally recognise what’s been right in front of us: energy insecurity and climate complacency are the same nightmare with one clear solution: ending our dependency on fossil fuels.
Uma Kumaran is Labour MP for Stratford and Bow
