The UK government is trying to approve another fossil fuel project. This time, the biggest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea - Rosebank. At 500 million barrels, Rosebank is almost three times the size of Cambo - the oil field that created huge controversy and was successfully paused last year.

Rosebank is huge. The CO2 from burning the fossil fuels in just this one oil and gas field in the UK would create more than the annual emissions of 28 countries in the Global South, combined. In other words, the CO2 from this one UK field would be more than 700 million people in the Global South produce in a year. These are the same countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis but which are already experiencing among the worst impacts of a warming planet. The UK government needs to take its fair share of responsibility for the climate crisis and use its wealth to support a fair and fast transition away from fossil fuels at home and abroad. The first step is to #StopRosebank and all new oil and gas extraction.

Rosebank won’t do anything to lower our energy bills, or make our energy supply safer, but it will make millions for oil & gas companies. Ninety percent of Rosebank’s reserves are oil, which are likely to be exported, just like 80% of oil produced in the UK - so its reserves won’t even protect our domestic energy security, despite what our government claims. Approving new fields like Rosebank only makes us more dependent on expensive, polluting fossil fuels for longer, when we can and should be rapidly switching to clean affordable energy. 

Scientists have warned time and time again that we can't have any more new oil and gas if we want to stay within safe climate limits. Adding new reserves, like Rosebank, will push us closer to parts of our world becoming uninhabitable. Just burning the fossil fuels in existing UK oil and gas fields will push us past climate limits. Last summer, we saw, clearer than ever, the effects of 1.1C degrees of global heating - with devastating floods across Asia, rivers drying up across Europe, and scorching heat across the world. Parts of the UK even hit 40°c. We can not let it get hotter. Rosebank will only pour more fuel on the fire.

We say no more. No more tax breaks for oil giants. No more skyrocketing energy bills. No more oil fields that ruin our chances at a liveable future.

No one act alone stopped the Cambo oil field. From direct action to legal pressure, political lobbying to media scrutiny, local community outreach to online actions - every act added up to force the industry to face a ‘death knell’ for fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea. 

Are you with us? Together, we can stop new oil and gas extraction, but to do that, we need everyone. A decision on Rosebank could come soon; right now is the time to fight back. We will not let the UK government and Equinor get away with this. 

Here’s how you can help to #StopRosebank right now: 

1. Sign up here for our digital day of action against Equinor, taking place this Tuesday 31st of January. We'll be hosting two open zoom sessions during the day where you can drop in and take collective action with some friendly faces, including mine! 

2. Join the next #StopRosebank welcome call to find out more about the campaign and how to get involved. Sign up here 

3. Follow @stopcambo on social media! You can find us on twitter, instagram, facebook and tiktok. 

Thanks for reading, and for being a part of this fight to stop new fossil fuels in the North Sea. We will get there together! 

Solidarity, 

Lauren