The UK won’t join an alliance of countries fixing a date to phase out fossil fuel production, which critics argue calls into question the host nation’s climate leadership.
The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance is being spearheaded by the governments of Denmark and Costa Rica and is expected to announce new member countries on Wednesday at the climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.
However, in a separate move, leading industry trade body Oil and Gas UK has signed a formal agreement with counterparts in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany today to advance the transition to net zero emissions.
Limiting oil and gas production is one of the key priorities for capping global warming at 1.5-degrees Celsius.
Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency said no new oil and gas fields should come online if a climate crisis is to be averted.
But the UK – which recently had to contend with record-high natural gas prices – says it won’t back the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance because ending fossil fuel production could cause a cliff edge in energy supply.
“No other significant oil and gas producing nation has gone as far as the UK in supporting sector’s gradual transition to a low carbon future,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“While the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels continues to fall, there will continue to be ongoing but diminishing need for oil and gas over the coming years while we ramp up renewable energy capacity.”
The UK is seeking to become climate neutral by 2050 and in March announced a plan to decarbonize oil and gas production in the North Sea.
The new agreement signed today between OGUK and its European counterparts states that they “believe oil and gas has the essential expertise to underpin the energy Transition” and progress technology such as CCS and hydrogen to meet net zero targets.
OGUK chief executive Deirdre Michie said: “The UK oil and gas industry is changing and the North Sea Transition Deal sets out in detail how our industry is working to support the delivery of the UK Government’s climate targets and use our skills to help other industries do the same.
“Today’s agreement recognises that climate change doesn’t stop at the border and commits us to work together to give millions of people access to cleaner energy and deliver a managed transition towards net zero.”
Director General of the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, Anniken Hauglie added: “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times. All countries and sectors in the world, including oil and gas, must contribute to the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, and this must happen quickly.
“It will be a demanding but absolutely necessary task. We want to help create a new and forward-looking energy industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf where we use the knowledge and expertise from the oil and gas industry to develop the sector further.”
