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Since the 1970s, oil and gas has been extracted in the North Sea, generating energy, revenue and jobs on the East coast of Scotland. A managed transition away from oil and gas extraction in the North Sea is an inevitable part of reaching net zero, and public support for oil and gas as has long been dwarfed by support for renewables.
The imperative of reducing emissions (and ultimately winding down oil and gas production), and the near-term need for oil and gas in the energy mix, is a tension that politicians find difficult to navigate: new licenses continue to be granted (for now).
Central to this industrial transition are the views and livelihoods of the offshore workforce, to ensure that the transition is fair and ‘just’.
Separately, there have been faltering attempts at ‘fracking’ for gas underground, which have met with persistent opposition from local communities and the wider public.
How fast the transition away from fossil fuels happens will depend on political will and public opinion – this thread captures key insights on oil and gas.
Polling of SNP voters by the campaign group Stop Cambo found that 70% agree that the UK should ‘get off oil and gas as quickly as possible’ by ramping up efforts to improve energy efficiency and developing lots more renewable energy.
In an example of the ambiguity that phrases like ‘as quickly as possible’ can sometimes mask, though, whilst 45% supported a ban on new exploration for oil and gas, almost the same number (39%) did not. Overwhelming support for greater investment in renewables among the public does not directly correlate with increasing opposition to oil and gas extraction.
There is, though, widespread support for ensuring communities are ready and able to benefit from the transition away from oil and gas (62%) and that workers are given more assistance in the transition to green jobs (86%).
OFFSHORE is an independent documentary that explores what the coming energy transition means for workers and communities around the UK North Sea.
The film looks at how communities and regions have been impacted by past industrial decline, the risks workers face in an increasingly precarious industry and how they can organise for the future.
Platform and Friends of the Earth Scotland have come together with a small group of offshore workers to build demands for a just energy transition. These workers developed 10 demands covering training and skills, pay, job creation, investment and public ownership.
They then surveyed over 1000 offshore workers, and over 90% agreed with these demands. Trade unions and other climate groups have also backed this vision.
This report details that work, the demands and how they can be put into practice.
YouGov’s biannual tracker of support for various forms of energy generation shows that wind and solar have had the highest support since 2019, with nuclear overtaking solar in recent years. Coal and gas receive consistently low support over time.
Methodology Note: These percentages are lower than other surveys that measure support for different forms of energy generation individually. This survey requires that people choose one out of all options, rather than asking people outright whether they support any particular energy generation source.
The Climate Change Committee, responding to the government’s inclusion of ‘climate compatible checkpoints’ for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as part of its recent Net Zero Strategy, concluded that:
“The best way of reducing the UK’s future exposure to these volatile prices is to cut fossil fuel consumption on the path to Net Zero – improving energy efficiency, shifting to a renewables-based power system and electrifying end uses in transport, industry and heating. Any increases in UK extraction of oil and gas would have, at most, a marginal effect on the prices faced by UK consumers in future”
Ahead of hosting the UN climate change conference (COP26) the UK government has released a length net zero strategy, which includes new oil and gas licensing in the North Sea, so long as they pass a ‘climate compatible’ check point.