In the wake of the approval of Jackdaw gas field, SERA, Labour’s Environment Campaign and Mainstream have issued a joint statement calling on the Government to reject Rosebank oil and gas fields, end new fossil fuel licensing, and invest in secure, unionised green jobs for the next generation.
The statement challenges the idea that continued oil and gas expansion offers a future for Britain’s workers. With Jackdaw approved, the organisations warn that Rosebank must not follow.
Approving new fossil fuel developments undermines the UK’s climate commitments and risks iiundoing significant progress made through the Government’s clean energy mission. With the planet on course to overshoot the 1.5°C warming limit, the UK should be consistent in its demonstration that a better alternative to fossil fuels is possible.
As Andy Burnham speaks of restoring hope, the two organisations argue that hope must be grounded in a credible plan for jobs, skills and investment — not further dependence on a declining fossil fuel industry.
With jobs supported by the UK oil and gas industry having halved over the past decade, SERA and Mainstream, led by young members, are calling for direct public investment in green infrastructure, high-quality apprenticeships and secure, long-term careers.
“Hope must mean building a future for young workers.” the statement says.
Christian Fuller, Executive Member for SERA said: “Young workers don’t want to choose between a decent job and a liveable planet. We deserve both. The approval of Jackdaw takes us in the wrong direction; it makes rejecting Rosebank all the more critical. The Government has made real progress on clean energy, but that progress must be consistent. It should be consistently investing in secure, unionised jobs that will last, not extending the life of an industry that has been shedding jobs for years.”
Climate action and a fair economy are not competing priorities, and a just transition away from fossil fuels must put workers and communities at its centre.
Pablo John, Interim Council Member at Mainstream said: “Approving Rosebank would be madness. Thousands died in this year’s extreme heat and workers were forced into dangerous conditions as the consequence of putting profit before people. Rosebank will not lower bills, deliver a just transition or make Britain more secure, all it would do is hand more public money to oil billionaires. Energy security can only be delivered through warm homes, secure union jobs and a liveable planet. Mainstream stands with young people, unions and campaigners working to stop Rosebank.”
Read the full statement below.
The statement:
We want a future we can actually plan for: secure, well-paid jobs, thriving communities and a liveable climate. The Government must show communities that these are not competing ambitions. They are the foundations of a prosperous country, and delivering them requires a government prepared to build.
Scientists have warned time and time again: that we already have enough fossil fuel projects planned globally to meet our energy needs – but burning it all would blow us past ‘safe’ climate limits of 1.5C.
The transition is an absolute certainty if we want a liveable future. But successive UK governments have prioritised propping up the dying oil and gas industry. In the last decade, jobs supported by the industry in the UK have halved – a loss of nearly 450 jobs a week over ten years.
The approval of Jackdaw must not be followed by approval of Rosebank. The UK’s growing green economy is booming, already worth over £100bn per year, and as young workers, that is exactly where we want to build our future. The Government is missing out on the massive jobs potential of the green transition, and creating secure, unionised jobs where they are desperately needed for the future.
We need to ditch the corporate handouts and continue to invest directly in the public green infrastructure, opening up high-quality training, apprenticeships, and careers in the industries of the future. That strategy starts with drawing a firm line: by rejecting Rosebank, refusing consent for any new fields, and banning all new licensing as is planned in the Energy Independence Bill.
Pragmatism means investing in what comes next, and as is intentioned, hope must be something people can see in their communities: new industries, decent jobs, affordable energy and a government willing to take responsibility for delivering them.
We do not want another generation to inherit an economy built around extracting wealth while leaving workers and communities behind.
Hope must mean building a future for young workers.