Greenpeace campaigners have hit the headlines by targeting prime minister Rishi Sunak’s home in North Yorkshire as they draped a sombre looking piece of oil black fabric over his Northallerton mansion, with a banner which read ‘Rishi Sunak – Oil profits or our future?’.
It was a statement of protest against his decision to ‘max out’ oil and gas reserves by expanding the number of North Sea drilling licenses, despite UN Chief António Guterres warning that we are in a state of “global boiling”, following the news that July was the warmest month on record.
The prime minister linked the decision to the impact of the war in Ukraine, saying on Monday, “We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponised energy – disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world.
“Now more than ever it’s vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalise on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses.”
The prime minister has also claimed that the new licenses could help lower Britain’s carbon footprint because domestic production creates less emissions than imported gas.
Sunak has also said that he is investing in carbon capture storage, in direct contradiction to the UN Secretary General Guterres, who has called the technology out for being a sneaky way for fossil fuel companies to get down their emissions on paper, rather than lowering them themselves.
In addition to Greenpeace’s headline-grabbing stunt, Sunak’s surprise decision – which comes in the wake of a number of other green policies being revoked or reconsidered – has come under fire from many high-profile commentators across the sector…
‘Cynical beyond belief’
Commenting on the prime minister’s rollback of green policies, Greenpeace climate campaigner Philip Evans said, “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist.”
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling”.
“This is cynical beyond belief,” he added.
NEWS FLASH: The science is clear, for a safe climate there must be NO NEW oil and gas projects. @RishiSunak you can’t be serious about approving more oil and gas?#NoNewOil #StopRosebank #Greenpeace pic.twitter.com/CDdXYaW7DJ
— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) August 3, 2023
‘Monumentally irresponsible’
Climate campaigners Just Stop Oil have also branded Rishi Sunak as taking people for “fools” and described his carbon capture plans as “greenwash”.
A spokesperson for the organisation Mel Carrington said, “Rishi Sunak’s decision is monumentally irresponsible. After the hottest July ever recorded in human history, just as wild fires wreck homes and lives around the world, his government has decided to undermine decades of progress on carbon reduction, stoke culture wars over net zero and spin obvious lies about energy security.”
“We cannot let this stand,” she continued.’
❌ Ending new fossil fuel licences.
✅ Issuing 100 new ones so you and your mates can get richer.
🖋️ Sick of these criminals? Sign up for direct action at https://t.co/7BzUVS02dZ pic.twitter.com/tEZlxQ0BEg
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) August 2, 2023
‘Breathtakingly dishonest’
The founder of green energy supplier Ecotricity, Dale Vince, has also taken to twitter to describe Sunak as “breathtakingly dishonest”.
The green entrepreneur continued, “From his shameless claim that Starmer’s policy to stop drilling in the North Sea (entirely as per international and scientific and political consensus) was brought by donations from an environmentalist, to his claims that his own rogue policies to start drilling will benefit the country – it really is little more than a lie when the facts say the exact opposite (it can’t lower energy bills or give us security).”
Sunak is breathtakingly dishonest. From his shameless claim that Starmer’s policy to stop drilling in the North Sea (entirely as per international scientific & political consensus) was bought by donations from an environmentalist, to his claims that his own rogue policies to… https://t.co/UjxPJ3GD9L
— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) August 1, 2023
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Rishi Sunak’s fossil fuel links have been raised
NGO Global Witness has described Sunak’s government as “the political wing of the Conservative Party”, after it analysed data that showed the prime minister and energy ministers had met with fossil fuel companies 54 times between January and March (which amounts to an average of once every two days).
Global Witness campaign leader Alice Harrison said, “The prime minister’s decision to double down on expensive, dirty and unreliable North Sea oil, most of which will be exported, serves no one but big oil executives.
Sunak’s connection with the fossil fuel sector is also being questioned, as concerns are being raised about the fact that BP and Shell both signed deals with Infosys – an IT company owned by Sunak’s father.
The Uxbridge ULEZ fiasco
It is also hard not to link Rishi Sunak’s recent decisions on oil and gas to the Tory’s success at the Uxbridge byelection, where Sadiq Khan’s Ulez plans and their impact on the cost of living and motorists who cannot afford less polluting cars was painted as the reason Labour did not win the seat.
Following the victory, Sunak was urged by backbenchers to U-turn on similar policies.
With similar plans due to roll out across the rest of the country, for example Andy Burnham’s plans to introduce his own clean air zone (Caz) in Greater Manchester, perhaps it isn’t surprising that some in the Tory party are viewing concern about the impact of green issues on family and small business pockets as a keynote point for next year’s election.
BREAKING: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan doubles down on the expansion of the city’s controversial ULEZ charge, after disappointing result in Uxbridge.
Politics Hub 👉 https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/F0wLJMKB00
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 21, 2023
Strange behaviour at a ‘global boiling’ point
At the same time as Sunak is leaning on the Ukraine War to explain impacted energy supply and outlined the need for the UK to be more self-reliant, BP has announced huge profits. It has also sparked furious concern over whether fossil fuel companies are profiting from the crisis.
The concern around profiting from the crisis, the prime minister’s policy decisions and whether any of it is ethical in an era of ‘global boiling’ have all led Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest to threaten to leave the UK due to what he described as Sunak’s “clickbait cycle”.
Speaking to Politico, the mining and cattle industries businessman said that while he was investing in areas like battery technology to help improve the situation: “I cannot invest in a country that is denying global warming and putting its faith in a failed ‘wait for the next idiot to come along’ solution called CCS”.
“If I see this country steering itself over a cliff, backing fossil fuel, I’m going to start pulling out”
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest threatens to pull investment from the UK over “clickbait” climate policies https://t.co/ZfGjJaE6K6 pic.twitter.com/VvjNKNXWPC
— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) July 31, 2023
And for what?
The Uxbridge byelection turnout was only 46%, and recent ONS statistics show that around three quarters of UK adults were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about climate change.
It is ultimately for the Conservative party, and of course its lead opposition the Labour party, to decide how they paint the debate and who they seek to draw to the polling station.
They can capitalise on a vocal minority, or they can show leadership on the environment, bringing businesses and people with them to seek not just gimmicky solutions, but real change for the future.
