Right now, as we gear up to host COP 26, the UK government are setting out to approve the creation of a new oil field off the coast of Scotland. The emissions from the proposed extraction of 170 million barrels of oil would be equivalent to the annual carbon pollution from 18 coal-fired power stations. And this is just one of many projects that fossil fuel companies are urging the UK government to give the green light to.
The International Energy Agency and the United Nations have warned that if the world wants to meet their goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C there should be no new investments in oil and gas. And this threshold for warming is the absolute minimum. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has already reported that going from 1.5°C to 2°C will result in almost 2 billion more people experiencing severe heat waves, seas rising another 10 centimetres, and coral reefs being expected to decline as much as 99%!
The Stop Cambo campaign is urging everybody to get involved to stop these oil fields now. Follow Stop Cambo on social media and share their posts, write to your MP asking them to oppose the oil field, sign the petition asking Boris Johnson not to approve the creation of any more oil fields, and head out to a protest to demand real climate action over more empty promises. For anyone out there that wishes they were more involved in climate activism and fighting for the future we need, this is a campaign desperate for your help.
As COP approaches, we will all be fed the narrative that the UK is a world leader in setting ambitious climate targets and investing in the ‘just transition.’ But we cannot forget that approving this oil field lies in direct contradiction with the UK government’s own, legally binding climate targets. We cannot let this hypocrisy fly under the radar while we host COP 26.
We all know that Scotland has no shortage of wind or waves that could be harnessed into electricity for the whole country; that is where the investment should be going. We also all know that we need a fundamental shift to an economy where workers are guaranteed well-paid, dignified, meaningful work that is not based on extractive Capitalism. The shift to renewable energy industries has never been so vital, and we need everybody to get involved to make that shift happen.
