First it was Norway. Then Brazil and even Kuwait and Iraq..Now the UK is the latest overseas government and trading partner to throw its hat into the oil sweepstakes with plans to approve hundreds of new oil drilling permits in the Scottish North Sea.. UK North SeaThe British government has plans to hand out hundreds of North Sea oil drilling permits. .British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative government says it wants to strengthen energy security "and capitalise on that independence to bring more affordable and clean energy to British homes and businesses." ."We have all seen how (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has manipulated energy, disrupting supplies and stalling growth in countries around the world," Sunak said in a statement..“Even when we’ve reached net zero in 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will come from oil and gas. But there are those who would rather that it come from hostile states than from the supplies we have here at home.”.A statement on the prime minister’s website said the move would increase the UK’s energy security and reduce dependence on higher-emission imports, “whilst protecting more than 200,000 jobs in a vital industry as we grow the UK economy.“.As part of the announcement, the government said it would also build two new carbon capture and storage plants in northeastern Scotland and England proper..It comes as Sunak began walking back the UK’s net-zero emissions commitments following a string of poor by-election results last month..Britons across party lines are worried that meeting net-zero by 2050 is just too expensive given high inflation and fears of a recession..Critics, predictably, were outraged, accusing Sunak of pandering to Scottish secessionists who want to hold a referendum to dissolve the 1707 Treaty of Union that is the constitutional basis for the UK..Environmentalists in both countries accused the government of 'greenwashing' a 'selfish' decision to press ahead with oil and gas..The head of Oxfam Scotland, a charity devoted to eradicating global poverty, said the government’s continued support of fossil fuels is bad, not just for the UK, but for others in developing nations as well..“This short-sighted and selfish decision by the UK government flies in the face of climate science and common sense and, if these fields come on stream in the future, they will deal another devastating blow to the millions of people in low-income countries whose lives and homes are already being destroyed by a crisis they did least to cause,” said regional leader Jamie Livingstone. .“The UN has made clear that we must end our global addiction to fossil fuels, so this decision sends a wrecking ball through the UK’s climate commitments. There is no energy security on an unlivable planet.”.It comes as the Canadian government continues to call for a 75% reduction in fossil fuel production to meet this country’s net-zero goals. If it goes ahead, it would make the UK one of Canada’s largest trading partners in addition to being a competitor for offshore Newfoundland oil, which is sold in the UK..In 2021, Canada and the UK signed the Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) following Brexit and last month the UK joined the successor to the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) despite objections from the Canadian cattle industry.
