• Sat. Nov 9th, 2024

Activists covered Sunak’s house with black cloth

On Thursday morning, four Greenpeace climbers covered Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire mansion in 200 metres squared of oil-black fabric.

They’re protesting major government plans for more North Sea oil and gas drilling, during a summer of escalating climate impacts.

Sunak’s government has come under heavy criticism for pushing ahead with plans to hand out around 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

The government is also deciding whether to approve oil drilling at Rosebank – the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea. And Rishi Sunak has said he thinks it should go ahead.

Sunak and his family are on holiday in California. The protest was deliberately timed for when they were away.

Five people were arrested after climate activists draped black cloth over British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s private mansion on Thursday.

The protest was in response to the UK government’s plans, unveiled Monday, to issue hundreds of licenses to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea,

Sunak said that he hoped the project would provide the UK with domestically-sourced energy while it transitions to a net zero economy by 2050. He also announced plans to build two new carbon capture and storage sites, to be completed by 2030.

His office said the first 100 drilling licenses are expected to be approved in the fall, “unlocking vital reserves which can be brought online faster.”

Greenpeace said Sunak’s announcement is a blow to the UK’s environmental goals. The group also said its protest was also aimed at stopping Sunak’s government from greenlighting Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field, which is currently awaiting approval.

“We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist,” said Philip Evans, Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner. “Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling. He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country.”

“More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax,” Evans added.

Greenpeace, CNN