Five Nations Develop North Sea Oil & Gas; Not One Has Limitation Plans That Would Match 1.5C Target

None of the big oil and gas producers surrounding the North Sea plan to stop drilling soon enough to meet the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating target, a report has found. The five countries – the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark – have failed to align their oil and gas policies with their climate promises under the Paris agreement, according to the campaign group Oil Change International.

North Sea governments must act urgently, said Silje Ask Lundberg from Oil Change International, who co-wrote the report. “Failure to address these issues not only undermines international climate goals, but also jeopardises the liveability of our planet.”

The report found that policies in Norway and the UK were furthest from the Paris climate agreement because the countries were “aggressively” exploring and licensing new oil and gas fields. In 2021, the International Energy Agency found there was no room for new oil exploration in its pathway to net zero emissions.

Tessa Khan, the founder of the climate campaign group Uplift, said the UK was in a tiny club of countries driving a crisis for little public gain. “This government is set on squeezing every last drop out of the North Sea, yet we know we’ve already discovered more oil and gas than it is safe to burn.”

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/12/no-big-north-sea-fossil-fuel-nation-plan-stop-drilling-global-heating