Tess White (North East
Scotland) (Con): Does the
member agree that the Scottish Labour position on Cambo has
jeopardised a thousand jobs in the energy sector?
Colin Smyth (South
Scotland) (Lab): The reality
is that people in the energy sector are already losing their jobs
and are getting very little support from the UK Government, at a
time when oil prices are falling, particularly given that there
are no proposals or plans from the UK Government to support those
workers in a just transition...
Katy Clark (West Scotland)
(Lab): However, we are talking about only
approximately half of the workforce. The announcement on Cambo makes
it clear that change is coming, but well-paid green jobs are not
currently being created in the numbers required, and much more
needs to be done by both Governments to make them a reality.
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland
and Fife) (Green):...It is absurd to say that
stopping the Cambo field
would mean turning off the taps on North Sea oil and gas and lead
to that kind of unmanaged collapse. There are already 6.5 billion
barrels of oil in more than 200 already-licensed fields in the
North Sea. That is enough to see us through years of energy
transition. It is clear that Cambo would
be disastrous. The emissions from burning all 800 million barrels
of oil in the field would be 10 times Scotland’s annual emissions
and would last well beyond 2045, when we are meant to be a net
zero country.
Where would the jobs from Cambo be?
Siccar Point Energy has said that the engineering and
construction work would be outsourced to a firm that is based in
Singapore. The operation is designed to need just 100 to 150
staff, who could end up being drafted in from anywhere in the
world.
Calling a halt to Cambo and
other new fields is the start of a managed transition rather than
the start of a future that is based on the economic chaos of
stranded assets that we cannot afford to burn. There have been
years of warnings—from those by Mark Carney to the ones from the
International Energy Agency—about exactly that scenario...
To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE
