Labour’s energy plan must centre workers’ just transition demands

By Freya Aitchison, Oil and Gas Campaigner

The Labour Party has recently announced that it would oppose all new oil and gas licensing should they win the next election, which has caused quite a stir in the media. Starmer actually announced Labour’s plans to end future licensing rounds back in January, at a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but the recent stories have seen a confirmation of existing commitments, and a pledge to include them as part of Labour’s ‘national missions’.

Energy experts and climate scientists in the International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and many more respected institutions have been saying with increasing urgency that in order to limit climate heating to 1.5C there cannot be any new investment in fossil fuel developments. With the impacts of the climate crisis becoming devastatingly clear both in the UK and across the globe, now is the time to be taking decisive action.

Since Labour’s announcement, there have been questions about the controversial Rosebank oil field, which Ed Miliband, Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, had previously said should not go ahead because it “won’t cut bills by a penny”.

As Rosebank already has a licence, but is yet undeveloped, this announcement won’t affect whether it goes ahead or not.

However, Labour has confirmed that if Rosebank, or any other project were given permission to start production by the current UK Government, they would honour that decision and allow drilling to continue if they win the next election. This is highly problematic because research has shown that if we are to limit warming to globally agreed 1.5C, 40% of fossil fuels in already licensed fields need to stay in the ground, in addition to all undeveloped reserves.

Because of the greater responsibility that the UK and other rich countries bear for causing the climate crisis, there is a duty under international law for us to do the most to tackle this crisis

This means we need to phase out our fossil fuel extraction and use first. If all the oil and gas in Rosebank alone is burned, it will produce the equivalent of the combined annual carbon dioxide emissions of the world’s 28 lowest income countries.

Whoever is running the country must accept the reality that no new projects can be allowed to go ahead and set a clear end date for oil and gas extraction, to give clarity and focus on the transition to a renewable energy future.

A couple of weeks after the announcement on oil and gas licensing, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the party would water down their previous commitment to borrow £28 billion per year until 2030 for climate-friendly investments Instead they will build up to £28 billion per year by the middle of their term, in what is a major backslide on a flagship pledge from Labour

While the original pledge of £28bn per year is a good start, and should be used to nationalise or take stakes in strategic energy infrastructure, such as the grid and ports, and to invest in regional publicly owned renewable generation companies, much more is needed

In a speech in Edinburgh on 19th June, Starmer revealed that Labour’s plan for a publicly owned energy generating company would be headquartered in Scotland With the profit driven energy firms having demonstrably failed to deliver on climate action, or keep energy affordable for householders, public ownership clearly must be at the heart of any robust just transition strategy Public ownership means that objectives like keeping peoples’ homes warm and bills affordable, and reducing environmental harm, can be prioritised over profit If it is set up in the right way, Labour’s Great British Energy Company coming to Scotland could help bring decent green jobs in manufacturing, construction and retrofitting. Reforming contracts with energy generators and putting conditions in place, which Starmer additionally committed to, will also help create decent green jobs here in Scotland, and across the UK.

The Labour Party needs to provide a lot more detail about how they will ensure a just transition away from oil and gas and put the interests of workers and communities at the heart of their policies. Earlier this year, we worked with a coalition of offshore oil and gas workers, climate groups and trade unions to create a new plan that would deliver a just transition away from fossil fuels to protect jobs, communities and climate. Over 1,000 surveyed oil and gas workers support transformative demands, including:

> Clear accessible pathways out of high carbon jobs, and a training regime for safety, not profit

> Investment in domestic manufacturing and assembly of renewables

> Ensuring safety, job security and fair pay across the energy industry

> Sharing the benefits of our energy system fairly, through public ownership, reorganising the tax system for public good and targeted public investment

The Labour Party should take their lead from these demands when developing their energy policies Oil and gas workers are ready to lead a rapid and fair transition away from fossil fuels, and have a blueprint to create an energy industry that protects workers, communities and the climate.