The executive chairman of Neptune Energy has urged Aberdeen’s energy sector to drive “collective action” on climate change.
Sam Laidlaw spoke at the OGUK Industry Conference yesterday, praising the city for setting the global “benchmark” for innovation in the wake of the latest oil downturn.
Mr Laidlaw, an industry stalwart of more than 30 years, urged the north-east to use that innovation and work with other energy sectors to “drive transition” on climate change.
He said:“Aberdeen in particular, and the UK as a whole, has adapted and is driving positive change and great progress.
“We’re setting the benchmark for the rest of the world, striving for safe, reliable and responsible operations that go hand-in-hand with an unprecedented focus on productivity and efficiency.
“Innovation is going to be key to delivering the scale of the change required and there’s no better place to drive innovation than Aberdeen, a city built on a heritage of energy and innovation.”
Mr Laidlaw said societal concerns like climate change have made oil and gas less appealing to investors, and cut in half the number of firms from the sector on the FTSE as a result.
Speaking at the event at the AECC, he added this period could now be a turning point for the industry.
He said:“We should be proud of what we do and what we’ve achieved but it is time for collective action.
“We’re not talking about hypothetical situations, we may very well look back on this period of time as a tipping point, when the industry made the decision to drive transition, rather than to merely experience it.”
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