Why Andy Burnham should follow Norway's lead on oil, gas and climate change

The Karsto gas processing plant in North Rogaland, Norway (Picture: Cornelius Poppe) | NTB/AFP via Getty Images

placeholder image — The Karsto gas processing plant in North Rogaland, Norway (Picture: Cornelius Poppe) | NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Norway is the highest-rated European country in the authoritative Climate Action Tracker

One of Andy Burnham’s biggest decisions – when the Labour party finally accepts the inevitable and decides he can take over from Keir Starmer – will be over the future of the UK’s oil and gas industry, and, in particular, whether the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields can go ahead.

There are several arguments to be considered, concerning the economy, tax revenues, jobs and, of course, climate change. One that can sometimes be overlooked is energy security.

As we report today, according to industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), Britain relies on imports from Norway for about 40 per cent of our gas. However, it argues that we cannot take these supplies for granted, with demand rising in other European countries as they continue to wean themselves off Russian gas.

Making real progress

Furthermore, much of this gas is sent from Norwegian North Sea fields to the UK through pipes that are part of the infrastructure used by our industry. If it declines, OEUK warns that these pipelines may not remain economically viable.

Its projections suggest that, without a change of policy, by 2035 the UK could be forced to import 46 per cent of its gas in the form of LNG, which produces more emissions than domestic gas. Prioritising domestic supply could reduce this to less than 10 per cent.

As we have said before, the UK should be learning from Norway, aka the “world’s greenest petrostate”, about how to tackle climate change – decarbonising and electrifying our economy, while using the wealth from oil and gas to help fund this momentous technological shift and pay for the new infrastructure it requires.

Just as the Norwegians are, it makes sense to exploit our own reserves rather than relying on imports, particularly when both countries are using gas from the essentially same place.

The atmosphere really does not care whether the oil and gas we burn is Norwegian or British, what matters is total emissions. In contrast to many countries, Norway – the highest-rated European country in the authoritative Climate Action Tracker – has been making real progress and, if we want to do the same, we should follow their lead.