Oil and Gas
Fields
6. Mark Ruskell (Mid
Scotland and Fife) (Green)
To ask the First Minister what further talks the Scottish
Government has had with the United Kingdom Government about
future oil and gas fields off the coast of Scotland. (S6F-01115)
The First Minister
()
The recent scientific reports from the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made it very clear
that the global climate emergency has not gone away and that the
window to act to limit warming to 1.5°C is rapidly closing.
The Scottish Government has made clear to the UK Government our
position that to support our just transition to net zero, new
offshore oil and gas licenses should be subject to a stringent
climate compatibility checkpoint. That should extend beyond new
licensing rounds to cover fields that are already consented to
but not yet in production. Indeed, the need for that is supported
by the UK Government’s own independent advisers on the UK Climate
Change Committee.
We responded formally to the UK Government consultation earlier
this year, but we have not yet seen any further detail on the
proposed checkpoint. The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy
and Transport restated our position to UK ministers on
publication of the UK Government’s energy security strategy on 18
March.
Mark Ruskell
I thank the First Minister for that crystal-clear response. Six
months on from the 26th UN climate change conference of the
parties—COP26—hundreds of new fossil fuel projects have been
proposed globally that, if realised, will cause our mutually
assured destruction from climate change.
The European Union knows that, which is why it is backing
renewables through a new multibillion pound investment. In
contrast, the UK Government minister is fuelling the rush to
climate breakdown by relabelling dirty gas as green, in an
attempt to fast track developments such as Jackdaw.
Does the First Minister agree that the best way to slash energy
bills is to replace gas with renewables and that the best way to
isolate Putin is to insulate homes?
The First
Minister
Yes, I agree with both the sentiment and the substance of that
question. Notwithstanding the short-term challenges and
inevitable volatilities that have been caused by Russia’s
despicable invasion of Ukraine, it is important for all our
decisions to be consistent with the journey to net zero, which is
so necessary to safeguard the future of the planet. We must
continue—and not allow to go into reverse—the progress that was
made at COP26. I was discussing that very issue with the United
States climate envoy, John Kerry, earlier this week, and I think
that there is a recognition there, as there is here, that that
momentum must continue.
The way to ensure energy security and lower energy prices, as
well as safeguard the planet, is to make the shift to renewable
and low-carbon sources of energy. We can illustrate that right
now in Scotland by the fact that wind power is already the
cheapest form of power in our energy mix. We must focus on those
investments in renewables, because, for the sake of the future of
the planet, the entire world must ensure that the transition
happens and that it accelerates, rather than slows down.
Liam Kerr (North East
Scotland) (Con)
Does the First Minister not recognise that domestic oil and gas
projects can help to reduce energy prices, secure energy security
and secure thousands of jobs through a fair transition, and that
they have a lower carbon footprint than imported supplies and
thus can help to progress our journey to net zero?
The First
Minister
I have spent much of this week making the point that the invasion
of Ukraine creates short-term challenges that will lead to
short-term decisions, but it must not take away our focus on the
long-term imperative. Nobody wants to see the United Kingdom
becoming more reliant on imports, which I have said in the
chamber as well as other places. However, it remains the case
that the way to accelerate the transition to net zero—which, as I
say, is important not just for environmental imperatives but to
increase energy security and reduce energy costs—is not to simply
replace one source of oil and gas with another in the long term.
Rather, we need to move away from fossil fuels to renewable
sources of energy. The oil and gas companies recognise that too,
which is why so many of them are investing in renewable energy.
Monica Lennon (Central
Scotland) (Lab)
After COP26, I asked the First Minister in the chamber whether
Cambo should go ahead. She rightly said that it should not get
the green light. Mark Ruskell is right to say that we need
crystal-clear language and provisions. Ahead of tomorrow’s
digital day of action, is it the First Minister’s position that
Jackdaw
should not get the green light?
The First
Minister
Mark Ruskell will correct me if I am misquoting him, but he said
that my answer was crystal clear. I am very clear, and I have
said again today, that any new development—whether that is a new
licensing round or a development that has already been consented
to and is looking for the go-ahead—has to have a robust climate
compatibility checkpoint. In the absence of that, developments
should not go ahead. That is very clear.
If Monica Lennon wants me to have greater ability to influence
those things, then perhaps she will support those powers being
transferred from the United Kingdom Government, where they
currently lie, to this Government and this Parliament.
