Rishi Sunak was asked how he could “look his daughter in the eye” if he allows a major North Sea oilfield to be developed.
The prime minister, who has previously said his daughter is the “climate change champion” in his house, was challenged by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
She said: “I wonder if he’s asked her what she thinks about Rosebank,” she asked, referring to the site off the Shetland Islands expected to produce 300 million barrels of oil.
Ms Lucas said the project would “blow climate targets and create more emissions than 28 of the world’s poorest countries combined”. She added that it would see £4 billion of taxpayer money handed to Norwegian oil giant, Equinor, all while failing to boost the UK’s energy security as the “vast majority” of the oil from Rosebank will be exported.
“If he gives this the green light, will he be able to look his daughter in the eye and honestly say that he has done everything in his power to give her and all other young people a liveable future?” Ms Lucas asked.
The International Energy Agency has previously said there must be no new investment in oil and gas if the world is to become net zero by 2050, while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure are already set to push global temperatures beyond safe limits.
It comes as climate protesters gathered on Wednesday outside Equinor’s London offices to oppose the company’s plans to develop Rosebank.
But Mr Sunak defended the development of Rosebank, saying we will need fossil fuels “for the next few decades” and it makes “no sense” not to invest in domestic production. The prime minister also accused the Green Party of “economic illiteracy”.
It is not the first time Mr Sunak’s green credentials have been called into question after he used a £1,000-an-hour taxpayer-funded helicopter to get to a photo-op he could have travelled to in 75 minutes by train.
Mr Sunak has been previously criticised for his use of exclusive short-haul flights, including after he took a private jet to Scotland to launch environmental tax breaks.
The government has rejected calls to block the development of Rosebank, arguing it is “better to produce gas on the UK Continental Shelf than import it from other countries”.
Scientists have warned that approving Rosebank would make it much more challenging to limit the global average temperature to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Comedian Frankie Boyle has also called on Mr Sunak to stop Rosebank from being developed.
And because of allowances in the government’s windfall tax which mean fossil fuel companies can offset their tax contributions if they invest in new oil and gas projects, Equinor would pay only 10 per cent of the development costs.
Government support would amount to £3.75 billion if Rosebank is approved, while Equinor would pay only £350 million.
