Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP has welcomed a Scottish court ruling that government approval of the giant new Rosebank and Jackdaw developments was unlawful because it did not account for the significant emissions that would be caused by burning the fields’ oil and gas.

Carla Denyer said: “This is a victory not just for the campaigners who have been fighting against new oil drilling at Rosebank and Jackdaw, but for common sense. The science is clear and the stakes are high: there can be no new oil and gas developments if we are to have a chance of staying within safe climate limits.

“We’ve already seen the effects of at least 1.2°C degrees of global heating: from record-breaking heatwaves on almost every continent and deadly floods taking people’s lives and livelihoods across the world. In this context, it would be morally scandalous to allow fossil fuel companies like Equinor to start extracting from new fields – for the sake of their own profits and regardless of the consequences for the rest of us.

“Aside from being a climate crime, opening new oil and gas fields like Rosebank goes entirely against what’s needed to strengthen the UK’s energy security, lower bills, and protect workers – which is to invest in a rapid and fair transition to renewable industries which have a long-term future.

“If this government is serious about protecting us from the climate crisis and securing a liveable future for our children, it will revoke Rosebank’s license so that there is absolutely no question of this development going ahead. It must also refuse consent for the 13 other oil and gas drilling projects licensed by the previous government, and send a clear signal to the fossil fuel industry that they have no future in the UK.”

Responding to Rachel Reeves’ speech on economic growth, Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay MP, said

“The idea that we have to choose between economic prosperity and safeguarding our children’s future is absolute nonsense – in fact it’s quite the opposite.

“Expanding airport capacity would wipe out all the benefits of the Government’s clean power plan, and won’t provide any benefits for ordinary people. 

“The idea that expanding Heathrow can happen in line with legal, environmental & climate objectives, while meeting rules on carbon emissions, noise and air quality is just fantasy thinking.

“At one point in her speech, the Chancellor said net zero is the opportunity of the century.

“She’s right about that, yet much of what she announced will take us further away from net zero.

“Her strategy doesn’t add up and it felt more as if she was chasing headlines than chasing a sustainable, fairer future for the UK.”

Responding to the news that Rachel Reeves is backing the expansion of Heathrow Airport, Green Party MP, Sian Berry MP said,

“The Chancellor talked about the ‘costs of irresponsibility’ but expanding Heathrow in the face of a climate emergency is the definition of irresponsible.”

“Worst still, we’re also expecting formal planning decisions from ministers on Gatwick and Luton airport expansion, which the Chancellor pre-empted today. Giving these permissions in the month before vital new advice is expected from the Climate Change Committee, today’s speech is nothing short of reckless.

“The carbon cost of expanding Heathrow, Luton, and Gatwick together will cancel out the benefits of Labour’s keystone clean energy plan, making Net Zero minister Ed Miliband’s task almost impossible.

“The Chancellor’s stated goal is ‘raising living standards in every part of the UK’ but more and bigger airports will serve only the very richest aviation bosses and the most frequent flyers whose wealth doesn’t help people’s daily lives get better.

“Tackling inequality and building a greener future should go hand in hand. That must mean investment in warmer homes, green energy and the local transport people use every day, not these bleak proposals.”

Responding to the news that Rachel Reeves is expected to give the go-ahead to a series of airport expansions across the UK, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Sian Berry, said:

“We must ask who these decisions would be made for and why. Whose advice is the Government listening to, when record-high wealth inequality is causing harm to the economy and society in many different ways, while frequent flying is the preserve of the super-rich?

“The aviation lobby is loud and well-funded, but the Government should instead be listening to scientists and its own Climate Change Committee, which has already urged a halt to overall airport expansion. The previous Labour government’s poor record on airport expansion doesn’t have to continue.

“If Ed Miliband is serious in his role as Net-Zero Minister, he will work to prevent the Chancellor and Transport Secretaries making a huge mistake, and advise the Chancellor to not make any dangerous new decisions until they have heard and listened to the new advice from the Climate Change Committee which is due in February.”