I am dismayed and heartbroken over seeing that the current Conservative government has given the green light to exploit the untapped Rosebank oil and gas fields in the North Sea. 

Look at recent floods in Libya and China. Look at the wildfires in Greece and Canada. Look at the extent of sea ice during winter in Antarctica (hint: it’s the lowest annual maximum level ever recorded). All of these events took place this year, at 1.2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels.  

Climate heating is a very real threat to planetary health and human survival. It is irreversible, but we currently have a choice to decide how bad it gets. 

The cumulative peer-reviewed science is unflinchingly clear:  

You cannot increase fossil fuel production AND address climate breakdown at the same time.  

This is not just opinion; it has been objectively concluded in reports by the Independent Panel on Climate Change, by the United Nations and by the UK Government's own Climate Change Committee. Across the world, thousands of independent, forensically peer-reviewed scientific studies spanning a period of decades also agree.

A choice is required between planetary survival and new fossil fuel exploration and there is no compromise between the two. This is an epoch-defining decision. Rosebank is ethically and morally wrong. It is not 'fair and proportionate'. It does not show leadership. It is planetary suicide.  

Tegan Newman

Trinity Street,

Salisbury

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