Two of the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas fields have been declared unlawful in a historic win for the climate movement. Just Stop Oil has been taking action since 2022 to demand ‘no new oil and gas’. After winning this demand Just Stop Oil subsequently moved to demand an end to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030. [1]
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“This is a historic victory for common sense. Rosebank would emit more carbon into the atmosphere than 28 whole countries combined. Jackdaw would emit more carbon than the entire country of Ghana. Meanwhile, the evidence of climate breakdown is plain for all to see. In recent weeks we’ve seen unprecedented flooding, California on fire, and generational storms in the UK, cutting power to over 700,000 properties. This is what the rest of our lives are going to look like. A rapidly accelerating carousel of climate chaos on our phone screens until we’re the ones filming our homes being obliterated or our loved ones killed in riots over food, after multiple bread-basket failures.
Climate breakdown and social collapse may be locked in as we have likely triggered multiple climate tipping points. To even be considering developing these projects, which would do nothing for UK energy security and even less to lower consumer bills, is completely psychotic. If oil and gas were produced at these sites it would be sold on the international markets, to enrich foreign corporations. Instead we need UK oil and gas workers to be given the financial support to retrain and use their skills developing the clean energy infrastructure of the future.
Make no mistake, the reason new oil and gas development is a hot-button topic is because of the headline grabbing actions undertaken by Just Stop Oil supporters, as well as the tireless work of Stop Cambo, Uplift and many others working in the NGO space. Prior to Just Stop Oil taking action, new oil and gas development made barely a whimper in the business pages of the papers. Now it is front page news. We do not take the sort of action we do lightly, or because we enjoy disrupting people’s days, we do it because the uncomfortable reality is that disruption has a substantial track record of achieving significant and necessary social change.
However, this fight is not yet over. The decision to cancel these projects leaves the Scottish courts and lands back on the desks of those in government, a government which came to power on the promise that they would end new oil and gas. The government must not for one minute forget the strength of feeling in the country, that new oil and gas is incompatible with any sort of stable future. We must maintain the pressure on them to do the right thing and end oil and gas burning by 2030. That is why it is so important to step-up and join us on the streets outside parliament this April, as we demand the government protects the people it purports to serve and not the criminal corporations and billionaire oil baron crooks who have undue control of our political establishment and our media.”
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. Now the courts agree that new oil and gas is unlawful. Just Stop Oil supporters are on the right side of history and non-violent civil resistance works. Just Stop Oil will once again be stepping into action this April to demand that governments commit to an international treaty to phase out the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal burning by 2030. You can help make this happen by coming to a talk and signing up for action at juststopoil.org.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is committed to nonviolent direct action to resist the destruction of our communities as a result of climate breakdown. We do not consent to plans that will result in 3C of warming and mass death.
We demand an emergency plan to Just Stop Oil by 2030. Our government must work with other governments to end the extraction and burning of all oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on.
We take all possible steps to ensure that no-one’s safety is compromised by our actions.