Shetlanders join Rosebank protest in Edinburgh 

Members of climate activism group, Shetland Stop Rosebank, joined a national demonstration in Edinburgh today (Tuesday), marking the beginning of a legal challenge against Rosebank oil field .

Drilling at Rosebank - slated as the UK’s largest untapped oil field 130 kilometres north-west of Shetland - was initially consented by regulators last September. 

Since then, the Supreme Court ruled regulators must consider the environmental impact of projects holistically: in Rosebank’s case including not only drilling and extraction itself, but also the eventual combustion of the oil.

Environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift have jointly asked the Court of Session in Edinburgh to revoke consent for Rosebank and the Jackdaw gas field near Aberdeen. That judicial review began today.

Sanjeev Prasad, 18, a medical student who grew up in Lerwick, attended a demonstration outside the court because he was worried about climate change.

“As a younger person, it’s my future,” Mr Prasad said.

“I’m from India, and I’ve seen how climate change can affects countries,” he added, from deadly flooding in Pakistan to Spain, more recently.

“Every time I go to Bangalore, which is the city I’m from, it’s hotter each year.”

Uplift and Greenpeace say the Rosebank oilfield will generate more CO2 than the 28 poorest countries in the world do each year.

Rosebank’s majority owners, Norway-based Equinor, say the development will support 2,000 jobs during its construction and more than 500 while it is operating.

Andrea Sanchez, a Bressay resident and climate activist, acknowledged the isles have a strong historical connection to oil and gas, but said it was important that locals also raised their voice in opposition.

“We are the closest to the oil field, and therefore it’s our voice that that matters the most,” Ms Sanchez said.

“There’s a lot of people here in Shetland that are in favour of oil and gas developments because we benefited a lot from from that in the past. However, there’s a few of us that are against [them] because we can see and we can understand the climate emergency.

“This doesn’t have implications just for Shetland or the marine area around Shetland, but it’s got implications for the whole world.”

Greens councillor Alex Armitage did not attend the protest, but said the legal challenge was an opportunity for the UK government to show “climate leadership globally,” just a few days before the start of COP29.

“Leaving Rosebank oil in the ground is Britain’s bargaining chip when we’re talking with other larger polluting countries,” Mr Armitage said. “They can see Britain as a climate hypocrisy while we continue to drill for oil.”

ONE COMMENT

Add Your Comment
  • Gordon h downing

    • November 13th, 2024 15:05

    I notice in the picture, they are all wearing items of clothing made using oil. Secondly how did the shetland residents get to Edinburgh. Unless they swam,or walker on water, they must have used transport that runs on fossil fuel

    REPLY

Add Your Comment

Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only. Both forename and surname are required.

Comments are moderated. Contributors must observe normal standards of decency and tolerance for the opinions of others.

The views expressed are those of contributors and not of The Shetland Times.

The Shetland Times reserves the right to decline or remove any contribution without notice or stating reason.

Comments are limited to 200 words but please email longer articles or letters to editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk for consideration and include a daytime telephone number and your address. If emailing information in confidence please put "Not for publication" in both the subject line and at the top of the main message.

200 words left

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo

Get Latest News in Your Inbox

Join the The Shetland Times mailing list to get one daily email update at midday on what's happening in Shetland.