BYM backs Labour fossil fuel pledge
‘We believe that political leadership in the 21st century involves working to secure a liveable planet, achieve lower bills for households, enhance our energy security and improve economic opportunities across the country.'
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has joined 139 other organisations in writing to Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, to support a ‘world-leading’ pledge to end new oil and gas projects.
Starmer will reveal his party’s net-zero carbon policies in Scotland later this month, including a ban on all North Sea oil and gas licences.
Groups including the RSPB, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Christian Aid and the Women’s Institute signed an open letter published in The Guardian in support of Labour’s position.
Paul Parker, recording clerk of BYM, said: ‘Governments should not be considering new oil and gas works at a time when the world is facing a climate emergency.
‘We must all build a just sustainable future for our nation. Quakers urge politicians of all parties to block all new oil and gas projects and instead create good green jobs in renewable energy.’
The letter followed high-profile opposition from business and political leaders in the north-east of Scotland, where the industry is concentrated, as well as the GMB union.
Signatories said that in the middle of an energy affordability crisis and global climate breakdown, moving beyond oil and gas extraction has never been more important.
They wrote: ‘We believe that political leadership in the 21st century involves working to secure a liveable planet, achieve lower bills for households, enhance our energy security and improve economic opportunities across the country.
‘New oil and gas fields only take us further from those goals.’
Labour must now move forward and outline a clear path to support workers’ transition from fossil fuels, the letter said.
Labour has previously said that it would block the Rosebank and Cambo oil field schemes if elected. But it would allow other projects already approved to go ahead.
The British government’s current net zero plan allows for new fossil fuel projects and focuses on carbon capture and storage. But carbon capture technology is still in development and experts say it is completely inadequate.
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