Nicola Sturgeon urges PM to reassess oil and gas licences1 min read

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged the Prime Minister to reconsider oil and gas licencing plans.

In a letter sent today to Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am asking that the UK Government agrees to reassess licences already issued but where field development has not yet commenced. That would include the proposed Cambo development.”

Nicola Sturgeon added that such licences, some of them issued many years ago, should be reassessed in light of the severe impacts of climate change.

The First Minister said: “The scientific report earlier this week from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes it absolutely clear the severe threat and heightened risk the climate emergency poses to the planet.

“However, it also shows that with immediate, concerted international action to reduce emissions, it is still possible to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C in the longer term.”

Nicola Sturgeon has also proposed a UK four nations summit to ensure that policymakers’ decisions show the global leadership needed in the run-up to COP26.

ELNhas contacted BEIS for a response.