Rosebank oil field pressure mounts as prime minister sent letter backed by 250 against development

Environmental campaigners marching in Edinburgh picture: Lisa Ferguson

Bishops, TV stars and charity leaders have joined campaigners to mount pressure against the development of Rosebank oil field ahead of a court case next month.

The range of voices make up some 250 signatories who have written to prime minister Keir Starmer, calling on him to stop the development.

Last month, the UK government said it will not defend the legal challenges against two controversial North Sea oil field developments, including Rosebank, the other being Jackdaw. Energy Minister Michael Shanks at the time said it will save taxpayer money to not challenge the judicial reviews.

The legal case against the Rosebank, nevertheless, been given the go-ahead and will be heard on November 12 in the Scottish Court of Session.

Environmental campaigners marching in Edinburgh | Lisa Ferguson

Campaigners said this means the field’s owners - Norway’s majority state-owned oil company Equinor - is alone in driving the project through court.

However, if the campaigners behind the legal case, brought forward by Greenpeace and Uplift, are successful, the decision to reapprove the field will ultimately end up back on the UK government’s desk.

Rosebank is 80 miles west of Shetland and contains around 300 million barrels of oil, making it the UK’s last major undeveloped oil site. It is twice the size of the controversial Cambo oil field, also west of Shetland.

Dr Chris van Tulleken

The letter, with signatories including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, representatives from Save the Children and The Church of England, as well as Associate Professor and TV Doctor Chris Van Tulleken of BBC’s ‘Trust Me, I’m a Doctor’, asks that the prime minister “back a plan for a properly-funded energy transition, which gets into specifics of how new jobs will be created and protect workers who currently depend on the oil and gas industry through investment and retraining.”

The letter also calls for “real solutions to tackle Britain’s broken energy system”, such as “scaling up renewables and insulating leaky homes, instead of catering to the narrow, profit-seeking demands of the oil and gas industry.”

Lauren MacDonald, member of campaign group Stop Rosebank, said: “The government has shown that it has common sense by agreeing that the original decision to approve Rosebank was unlawful.

“But if we win in court, the decision may well end up right back on the government’s desk. Government should take heed of the concerns of farmers, doctors, faith leaders and people across the UK and make the right choice to stop this field for good.”

The UK Government said it will consult on new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms in light of the Supreme Court ruling, and that it is “acting swiftly so that decisions on oil and gas development consents can be made.”

Mr Shanks said: “This government is committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower, helping to meet our first mission to kickstart economic growth. While we make that transition the oil and gas industry will play an important role in the economy for decades to come.

“As we support the North Sea’s clean energy future, this government is committed to protecting current and future generations of good jobs as we do so.

“We were elected with a mandate to deliver stability, certainty and growth. Every action we take will be in pursuit of that. We will consult at pace on new guidance that takes into account the Supreme Court’s ruling on Environmental Impact Assessments, to enable the industry to plan, secure jobs, and invest in our economy.”

Equinor did not respond to request for comment.