The Weald Action Group responded to the government’s recent consultation on widespread policy changes that will determine the future of energy production in the North Sea.
While primarily about the North Sea, the consultation also covered onshore oil and gas production too. (The onshore part relates to England only, unlike the rest of the consultation.)
Our response made three main points:
- We welcomed the plan to end the issuing of new licences for exploration and production in England. However, we do not consider that this goes far enough. We urged the government to adopt a presumption against approving applications for development in already licensed areas. As we had recommended in our response to the consultation regarding proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework in September 2024.
- We were very disappointed that the government’s new supplementary guidance for assessing the effects of Scope 3 emissions on climate is not intended to be used in the context of decisions regarding onshore oil and gas developments. We pointed out that the guidance has come about as a direct result of the Weald Action Group’s legal victory (the ‘Finch’ judgment) against the approval of an onshore oil field. We urged the government to re-think this approach and either issue the supplementary guidance (once finalised) to Mineral Planning Authorities or develop bespoke guidance regarding the onshore oil and gas sector.
- Finally, we welcomed the government’s continued intention to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking). However, we pointed out that the definition of fracking in the Infrastructure Act 2015 is based on an unrealistically high threshold for the quantity of water needed, which has created a loophole that allows fracking to take place, despite the current moratorium. We recommended that the government adopt the robust scientific definition of fracking set out in the peer reviewed paper ‘Acid stimulation: fracking by stealth continues despite the moratorium in England’ (Zalucka et al, Energy Policy, 2021).
As well as our own submission, the Weald Action Group signed a collective response with other organisations. This said that to truly deliver a “prosperous and managed” transition, the UK government’s plan must also include:
- Public investment in domestic manufacturing to ensure clean energy is made in the UK
- Support for workers and communities to benefit from high-quality, clean energy jobs
- End new oil and gas to keep 1.5 °C within reach
Read the joint response in full
This was the second recent consultation from the government on energy policy. In January we responded to a consultation on new guidance on environmental impact assessments for new offshore oil and gas projects. This consultation came about as a direct result of our win in the Supreme Court.
One Reply to “The future of energy production in the North Sea and beyond: our response”