By Nicholas Earl
Aviva has slammed the government’s decision to expand oil and gas production and water down green pledges.
The insurer’s chief executive, Amanda Blanc, fears that the UK’s climate goals are “under threat due to a lack of practical and detailed plans”.
She warned that the country risked its leading position in the energy transition and was “worried that UK climate action has stalled this year”.
“This puts at clear risk the jobs, growth and the additional investment the UK requires to become more climate-ready,” she told The Times.
The FTSE 100 giant has published a report criticising the government’s recent “dilution” of climate policies and condemns its push to expand North Sea drilling as a “worrying shift”.
Criticising the lack of policies in place to achieve Britain’s net zero climate goals, the report calls for “immediate corrective action”, including “phasing out fossil fuel extraction, improving energy efficiency of buildings, and scaling-up renewables”.
Blanc argued that UK businesses were “trying to address the climate challenge in greater numbers and putting action plans in place”.
“To support them, we urgently need a UK, whole economy, transition plan which allows us to compete more effectively with the US Inflation Reduction Act and help the UK become the most climate-ready major economy by 2030.”
This comes as the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the UK’s industry regulator, unveiled the first 27 new licences for oil and gas projects in British waters this morning as part of its latest licensing round — which includes major players such as BP, Shell and Total.
Energy secretary Claire Coutinho defended the move as “common sense” — suggesting that the move will reduce the UK’s reliance on foreign imports which was “better for our economy, the environment and our energy security”.
She said: “As recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee — we’ll continue to need oil and gas over the coming decades as we deliver net zero.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also pledged more than 100 new licences earlier this year and delayed the phasing out of petrol and diesel car sales, while postponing the shift from oil and gas boilers.
Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field, was recently approved by the NSTA — attracting further criticism from green groups.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, an environmental pressure group, said: “This government isn’t being straight with the British public. New North Sea licences won’t make a scrap of difference to the lives of millions of people who can’t afford to heat their homes this winter, nor for our energy security more generally.”
City A.M. has approached the government for comment.
