Academics from the Tyndall Centre at the University of Manchester have issued an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, calling on him to deny approval for further development of the Jackdaw and Rosebank oilfields in the North Sea. The scientists, led by Prof Kevin Anderson, express concern over reports suggesting the government intends to greenlight these drilling projects, which were initially approved under the previous Conservative administration but subsequently halted pending further environmental assessment.
The letter emphasizes that approving such development would contradict commitments Burnham made during his tenure as mayor of Greater Manchester. In 2024, he unveiled an ambitious local climate program targeting carbon neutrality by 2038, which the Tyndall Centre scientists helped develop through carbon budget analysis. They argue that his current position as prime minister provides the necessary authority to deliver on those earlier pledges.
The academics point to accelerating climate impacts, including widespread heatwaves and wildfires across the UK and Europe this summer, as evidence supporting immediate action. They note that global temperatures have already reached the lower limit of the Paris Agreement’s temperature range at 1.5 degrees Celsius, and argue that global carbon dioxide emissions must decline by approximately 8 percent annually to meet even the weaker 2-degree target.
Labour’s election manifesto included a commitment against issuing new oil and gas licenses, though Jackdaw and Rosebank were already in the approval pipeline at the time of the general election. A consultation on Jackdaw is scheduled to conclude on 8 August. The scientists caution that approving new drilling would signal to the international community that the UK is retreating from its climate obligations, undermining pressure on other nations to uphold similar commitments.
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