Labour has announced it will force a debate in Parliament on energy bills and independence, as the row over the government’s plan to legislate for annual oil and gas drilling rounds intensifies.
The Opposition said it was necessary to debate the government’s energy policy after the only piece of energy legislation set out in the King’s Speech earlier this week came in the form of a bill to mandate annual oil and gas licensing rounds in the North Sea.
The UK government officially introduced the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to Parliament on Wednesday, arguing it would “boost the UK economy, energy security and transition to net zero”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast earlier this week, Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said the plans had been designed to ensure “security of supply” and could boost tax revenues that could then fund public services and the energy transition. However, she admitted it “wouldn’t necessarily bring energy bills down”.
Energy bills have come down since their peak last winter, however they remain high by historical standards, fuelling major concerns about high levels of fuel poverty this winter.
Shadow Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband described Coutinho’s comments as a “stunning admission that during the worst energy bills crisis in generations, their flagship King’s Speech energy policy won’t even take a penny off energy bills”.
“The Conservatives are so out of touch that they have given up trying to bring down energy bills for British families and make Britain energy independent,” he added.
Labour said it would use its debate to set out how it would make the UK less exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices if it forms the next government.
Experts have pointed out that ramping up domestic production has little impact on energy security, given that fossil fuels extracted from the North Sea are sold by private companies on international markets.
They have also pointed out that – unlike investment in growing clean energy capacity and household energy efficiency that can reduce citizens’ exposure to international fossil fuel prices – expanding the UK’s oil and gas reserves will not necessarily bring down household energy costs and will result in higher emissions.
The government’s decision to press ahead with licensing rounds ignores warnings from UN climate scientists and the International Energy Agency that all new oil and gas expansion must stop if global climate goals are to be met.
It comes as a major UN report warned that governments around the world are on track to produce 110 per cent more fossil fuels in 2030 than is consistent with limiting global warming the internationally agreed 1.5C temperature goal.
The UK government also claims that producing oil and gas at home can reduce the country’s reliance on emissions intensive imports. It said new licensing rounds will only go ahead if the UK is importing more oil and gas than it is exporting, and domestic gas production is shown to result in a lower carbon footprint than imported liquified natural gas (LNG).
Critics were quick to point out that the latter test failed to consider the UK’s relatively high oil production emissions, nor the fact the UK’s primary gas supplier, Norway, produces gas with significantly lower emissions than UK projects.
Labour announced its plans to force a debate in Parliament over the government’s energy policy came as Lord Stern – Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and author of the landmark Stern Review – hit out at the use of “misguided” energy security concerns to prolong fossil fuel use.
In his acceptance speech for a ‘leadership in implementation’ award at the Sustainability Awards last night, Stern said: “Too many politicians are unwilling to take strong action for sustainability and see short-term political returns in resisting change, playing to vested interests, and fostering climate scepticism.
“Many fossil fuel companies are vigorous in their fight back, including using misguided security arguments to suggest we prolong fossil fuel use. That is profoundly wrong; insecurity has come from depending on fossil fuels, often from unstable or less-than-benevolent sources.”
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