The King’s Speech shows the Prime Minister has “turned his back on tackling climate breakdown”, which will result in the loss of British lives, a leading climate scientist has warned.
Bill McGuire, a professor of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London (UCL), told i Rishi Sunak’s decision to allow for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea was “criminally insane”.
King Charles confirmed the Government’s plans to allow new licences for oil and gas projects when he delivered his King’s Speech to Parliament on Tuesday.
The plans have been widely criticised by climate campaigners and scientists, who argue that new fossil fuel projects will contribute to global warming while having a minimal impact on the UK’s energy security.
The Tories have been accused of introducing the policy to draw a dividing line with Labour ahead of next year’s general election, with Labour having already committed to investing heavily in renewable energy.
But ministers have insisted new drilling in the North Sea will improve Britain’s energy security and will not prevent the UK from hitting its net zero targets.
Professor McGuire, author of Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide, accused the Prime Minister of “[turning] his back on tackling climate breakdown” for “entirely party-political reasons”, adding that “many lives will be lost as a consequence”.
“Many thousands of lives are already being lost in the UK due to the explosion of extreme weather,” said Professor McGuire, citing official Government figures that showed 4,500 died people during the 2022 heatwave.
“The Government’s watering down of policies that seek to tackle climate breakdown will ensure that the number of deaths due to the impact of global heating on the UK population will keep on rising,” he said.
It comes as Britain has been hit with a series of extreme weather events, with a record-breaking October heatwave leading into two major storms and mass flooding.
Globally 2023 has brought the hottest July, August and September on record, with the dramatic jump in temperature stunning climate scientists.
To combat global warming, the UK Government has set a legally binding target that Britain will hit net zero by 2050, meaning the country will emit no more carbon dioxide into the air than it takes out.
“The Government is increasingly off-track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, when the latest research shows that – for there to be a 50 per cent chance of dodging a 1.5°C temperature rise – we need net zero emissions by 2034,” Professor McGuire said.
In 2015, nearly every country in the world signed up to the Paris Agreement, through which they pledged to limit the earth’s warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Research has shown that any temperature increases above this level will result in extreme and irreversible changes to the world’s climate.
A recent study by scientists from Imperial College London found that global emissions will have to reach net zero by 2034, rather than 2050, to avoid going over this threshold.
“As the International Energy Agency has made clear on a number of occasions, to have any chance of staying on this side of the 1.5°C dangerous climate change guardrail, there can be no new fossil fuel developments,” Professor McGuire said.
“Consequently, the Government should have announced plans to scrap the issuing of oil and gas licences, to stop subsidising fossil fuels, and to dramatically increase investment in renewables.”
Other climate scientists have joined Professor McGuire in their condemnation of the Government’s plan to allow for further oil and gas exploration.
Esin Serin, policy fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: “Ahead of Cop28 the Government should be playing a leadership role on net zero, instead they have doubled down on their commitments to drill for more oil and gas.
“This shatters the UK’s ability to encourage stronger collective action in Dubai [which is hosting Cop28] to protect the safety of the planet while making minimal difference if any to its own energy bills or security.
“The announcements today send completely the wrong message to governments and businesses around the world, who will be unsure if the UK is truly serious about delivering net zero by 2050.”
Professor Jon Gluyas, an expert in geoenergy and carbon capture and storage at Durham University, said: “By opting to offer licences to find more fossil fuels, the UK Government has blown a big hole in its avowed climate leadership and this declaration is unlikely to cut it with other governments who might have looked to the UK for leadership.”
When i contacted the Government for comment, it pointed to recent comments made by Mr Sunak, saying: “Domestic energy will play a crucial role in the transition to net zero, supporting jobs and economic growth, while also protecting us from the volatility of international markets and diversifying our energy sources. The clarity and certainty that our new legislation will provide will help get the country on the right path for the future.”
