GFFOE just signed up to an open letter to MPs in support of amendment NC12 of the Energy Bill
Dear Members of Parliament,
In the coming weeks, the UK Parliament will have a unique opportunity to protect both the climate and the energy security of British citizens, as well as the UK’s leadership on the global stage. We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to you to call on your support for amendment NC12 to the Energy Bill, tabled by Wera Hobhouse MP, which would ban the wasteful practice of venting and flaring of methane by 2025, and require stricter measures to prevent unintended methane emissions.Methane is essentially natural gas which helps us heat our homes, but when it’s released into the atmosphere it’s over 80 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. In fact, 0.5° Celsius of our current global warming is caused by methane, and because these emissions are rising so quickly, they are now the biggest threat to passing irreversible climate tipping points.In the face of converging cost-of-living, climate, and energy crises, it’s almost unthinkable that we would be wasting valuable gas instead of improving our own energy security – yet that’s exactly what the oil and gas sector is doing. North Sea oil companies currently waste enough gas to supply at least 760,000 average UK homes by releasing methane into the air – if we miss this opportunity to ban venting and flaring by 2025, instead of 2030, we will be putting both our climate and energy security at risk.As a global champion in the fight against climate change, the UK helped drive the Global Methane Pledge at COP26, aiming to reduce 30% of methane emissions by 2030. However, with countries such as the United States, Nigeria and Canada all moving faster to cut methane emissions, the UK is now falling far behind its partners.The UK’s climate credibility on the global stage is now in jeopardy.From 40.3°C heatwaves to devastating floods across Peterborough, Cornwall,and Kent, we are already seeing the costly consequences of insufficient action to address climate change. It’s estimated that these climate impacts will cost the UK economy 1% of GDP by 2045, or at least £22 billion year. Protecting the climate means protecting our pay checks, and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, we need inexpensive solutions such as cutting methane emissions, which tackle multiple problems at once.By supporting an amendment banning the wasteful venting and flaring of unused methane and reducing fugitive methane emissions, you will be strengthening the UK’s energy security, its economic resilience, and its global standing in the fight against climate change. We hope to count on your leadership to support the fastest and most cost-effective solution available to meet the difficult challenges of both today and tomorrow.
Gosport and Fareham Friends of the Earth
July 2023 Leaked documents have just revealed the UK Government plans to scrap its £11.6 billion climate and nature pledge [1]. At the same time as giving fossil fuel companies £11.4 billion in tax breaks [2]. This money is desperately needed by the world's communities most affected by climate change. And to protect and restore the world’s vanishing nature.
But scrapping the pledge hasn’t been confirmed yet. So right now we have a chance to create a surge of public pressure to push the prime minister to stick to the pledge.
