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Rosebank: The government’s climate test
Parliamentary Briefing
Rosebank: key information
- The UK government now has the opportunity to make a new decision on whether to approve or reject Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field.
- The field’s owner Equinor – which owns 80% of the field with Ithaca Energy holding the remaining stake – has reapplied for drilling permission. This follows the field’s initial approval by the previous government being ruled unlawful for failing to take into account the full impact that burning Rosebank’s reserves will have on the climate.
- The new decision on Rosebank is subject to a tightened environmental impact assessment process, requiring the full emissions from burning Rosebank’s reserves to be counted for the first time.
- The assessment of Rosebank’s full climate harm is now required alongside existing appraisals of its economic impact and compatibility with UK energy policy, which includes the government’s new objective “to take a globally standard-setting, 1.5°C and climate science-aligned approach to future oil and gas production”.
- With the government now assessing new projects on their compatibility with climate goals, Rosebank will be a defining test of this government’s climate credibility.
Rosebank is a red line for the UK’s climate commitments
- Rosebank’s projected CO2 emissions are vast – more than the 700 million people living in the world’s poorest countries produce in a year. It will be obvious, when all Rosebank’s emissions are counted, that developing this vast oil field is not compatible with a liveable climate or the UK’s climate commitments.
- A recent academic study concluded that opening any new North Sea oil and gas fields is inconsistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. This is because emissions from burning reserves in existing and planned oil and gas fields globally would exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C by a long way.
- The Climate Change Committee advises that limiting the expansion of fossil fuel production must be a key priority for the UK government and that “UK policy on future oil and gas production should be aligned with Global Stocktake calls to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels”. While acknowledging that the UK will continue to need some oil and gas until it reaches net zero, the Committee is clear that “this does not in itself justify the development of new North Sea fields”.
- Approving Rosebank would seriously undermine the UK’s position ahead of November’s critical talks at COP30 in Brazil, at a time when our leadership is vital. It would also contradict the Prime Minister’s statement that “Climate action is at the heart of this government’s mission for the protection and prosperity of Britain and the world.”
Rosebank is a bad deal for the UK
- Due to the UK’s generous oil and gas tax regime, the UK public would shoulder over 80% of the costs – and the vast majority of risk – from developing Rosebank. In a base-case scenario with a long-term average oil price of $70 a barrel, Rosebank could result in a net loss of over £250 million to the UK Treasury, while the field’s owners Equinor and Ithaca would earn £1.5 billion in profit.
- Since Equinor is majority-owned by the Norwegian state, Norwegian citizens stand to gain far more from Rosebank than the UK does. In effect, Rosebank is a redistribution of wealth away from the UK public to one of the richest countries in the world.
- The claim that oil and gas profits are needed to invest in the transition does not stand up to scrutiny. Equinor – like most oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea – is not investing in renewables. Less than 1% of Equinor's energy came from renewable sources in 2024. More broadly, only seven out of 87 North Sea operators plan to invest anything in renewable energy by 2030.
Rosebank will not deliver energy security or lower bills
- 90% of Rosebank’s reserves are oil, not gas, the majority of which will be exported. Equinor has said that Rosebank’s oil "will be sold on the open market, and the most likely destination for that oil is the continent of Europe." Increasing domestic supply through fields like Rosebank will make no difference to gas prices.
- Rosebank’s minimal gas reserves only have the potential to reduce UK annual gas import dependency by just 1% on average.
- The UK’s exposure to fossil fuels is the primary driver of high energy bills for families and businesses. The UN Secretary-General has said that “The greatest threat to energy security today is fossil fuels. They leave economies and people at the mercy of price shocks, supply disruptions and geopolitical turmoil.”
- Approving Rosebank would send contradictory signals to investors, undermining the confidence and capital needed to deliver the Clean Power Mission and locking the UK into a cycle of dependency, precisely when the government’s goal is to reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and unlock the benefits of clean energy.
Rosebank will not protect North Sea workers
- New fields like Rosebank will not stem the decline of jobs in the North Sea. Over the past decade, the number of jobs supported by the North Sea oil and gas industry has more than halved, despite new fields being approved.
- The claim that Rosebank will create thousands of jobs is inflated, with Equinor’s own estimate suggesting the project will support an average of 255 UK-based jobs directly. Scottish trade unionists are concerned that not a single design or construction job has yet been created by Rosebank in the UK and that the main offshore vessel is being built in Dubai, calling it a “shocking betrayal of Scotland’s workers”.
- With the North Sea’s oil and gas reserves in terminal decline, the only way to protect workers is to invest in renewable industries with a long-term future and to create clear pathways into new, good-quality jobs in those industries.
Rosebank faces broad, sustained opposition
- The Stop Rosebank campaign represents over one million people and more than 500 civil society organisations, united in calling for an end to all new oil and gas developments in the UK, and a properly funded plan for energy workers and communities.
- Our campaign has received the support of over 700 scientists and experts, 400 faith leaders, dozens of MPs and MSPs from every major political party, trade unionists, healthcare workers, farmers, young people, parents, fuel poverty campaigners, and public figures.
- In April, Stop Rosebank handed in 1 million petition signatures to 10 Downing Street, supported by Avaaz, Change.org, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Global Justice Now, Greenpeace and 350.org.
- 37 MPs and 11 MSPs have officially signed the Stop Rosebank Pledge, and Rosebank has been mentioned over 113 times in the UK Parliament including a dedicated parliamentary debate over the environmental impact of the field.
- High profile musicians including Robert Smith, Paloma Faith, Brian Eno, and Enter Shikari recently joined the call for Starmer to reject Rosebank, with widespread press coverage.
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Stop Rosebank Day of Action
- On 6 September, Stop Rosebank held coordinated demonstrations in 20 towns and cities across the UK, bringing together thousands of people in opposition to Rosebank.
- To name just a few: synchronised swimming in Penzance, a mass bike ride between five MP/MSP offices in Edinburgh, community mobilisations outside Alistair Carmichael’s office in Shetland and Keir Starmer’s constituency in London. We filled out hundreds of postcards to our MPs and MSPs, and many actions landed local press coverage
Stop Rosebank MP Pledge
We ask you to please join a growing list of cross-party MPs who have officially shown their support for our campaign through the Stop Rosebank MP pledge:
“I pledge to oppose the Rosebank oil field and advocate for a properly funded just transition for oil and gas workers and communities. I will advocate to fix the UK's broken energy system and mitigate climate breakdown through real solutions such as scaling up renewables, reducing our reliance on oil and gas and insulating our leaky homes.”
To sign the pledge, please email action@stopcambo.org.uk
