To: UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State with responsibility for one of the most consequential climate decisions this government will make: whether to reject or approve the Rosebank oil field.
We, the undersigned organisations, community groups and individuals from across the UK and the world, share your commitment to climate justice, to thriving communities and a fairer future for all. We urge you to reject Rosebank and any new North Sea oil & gas development.
Throughout your career you have demonstrated a clear understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis and the opportunities that come from accelerating a just transition to renewable energy. You have spoken powerfully about the need for climate action that improves people's lives, strengthens our economy and delivers justice for those most affected by an overheating planet. People in the UK want an affordable energy supply that doesn’t put our climate at risk, not more of the same rip-off energy system where oil giants like Adura walk off with massive profits while we’re left with high bills and declining jobs.
You have previously been clear that expanding oil and gas production in the North Sea is incompatible with delivering the UK's climate commitments. We welcome your previous support for ending new oil and gas extraction, and your recognition that Britain's future lies in clean, affordable energy—not doubling down on the fossil fuels driving the crisis.
We urge you to stand firm and not to give in to the immense pressure you will come under from vested interests in the oil and gas industry to approve the extraction and burning of the 200 million tonnes of CO2 in Rosebank's oil and gas fields.
Today, you have the opportunity to turn those principles into action. Rosebank is a red line for the climate. This decision is about more than a single oil field.
The impacts of approving Rosebank would reverberate far beyond our shores, worsening global heating and increasing the risk of floods, droughts, heatwaves and food insecurity like those already affecting communities here and around the world. Approving Rosebank would allow Adura to sell off this oil on international markets and the release of over 200 million tonnes of carbon pollution over the oil field's lifetime that would have very little to no impact on reducing UK household energy bills. The oil from Rosebank alone would be equivalent to more carbon pollution than the whole of Liberia would emit over the next 230 years!
The Rosebank decision is an early test of whether you and this government will lead with courage at a moment when bold leadership is urgently needed. The UK must honour our responsibilities to future generations and to communities around the world already living with the devastating impacts of climate disasters.
This is the THE moment to choose whether the UK remains locked into a declining fossil fuel economy or embraces the opportunities of a just transition.
You can demonstrate that the UK is serious about climate leadership and that Andy Burnham's commitment to fairness extends beyond our borders as well as within them.
You can give certainty to North Sea workers, their unions and investors that Britain's future lies in clean industries, not new fossil fuel extraction.
Above all, you can ensure that this government is remembered as the one that drew a clear line under new oil and gas development in the North Sea.
This is your first test on climate. Please reject the Rosebank oil field.
Yours sincerely,
