London, UK – A hundred protesters gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament on July 18 calling for incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reject the controversial Rosebank oil field.
This demonstration was organised on short notice following media reports that Burnham plans to support the North Sea oil development which climate activists have described as a “carbon bomb.”
“[Rosebank] would completely smash through our climate targets at a time of escalating climate impact,” said Rosie, a campaigner with Fossil Free London, the group organising the protest.
Why is Rosebank controversial?
Rosebank, located 80 miles from the Shetland Islands, is the UK’s largest untapped oil field. Its development has been a subject of controversy due to its projected high carbon emissions and connection to a UN-blacklisted Israeli company.
While the drilling licence was initially approved in 2023, a court case brought by environmental organisations Greenpeace and Uplift found that consent was given unlawfully as downstream emissions were not taken into consideration. This meant that a new approval process considering downstream emissions had to be undertaken.
This process is currently in the final public consultation phase, with the Energy Secretary to make a decision in August at the earliest.
Rosebank’s main developer, with an 80% stake, is Adura, a joint venture between Shell and Norwegian state-owned Equinor. The remaining 20% stake is held by Ithaca, a UK-based subsidiary of Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group.
Image credit: via Uplift
Delek Group has been put on a UN blacklist for working with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and is contracted to supply fuel to the Israeli military and police. They have received at least $1 billion USD (€874,800) from Ithaca’s North Sea operations since 2020.
In January 2025, former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign warned that the UK could breach international law by approving Rosebank if Delek Group were to receive profits.
The threat of climate change
Increasing cases of extreme weather, including heatwaves over the past three months, have convinced many protestors of the severe risks posed by climate change. The Met Office recently estimated that 42% of the 2700 heat-related deaths in May and June were caused by climate change.
Rosebank is projected to produce over 200 million tonnes of CO2, which climate activists argue goes against the UK’s target of net-zero by 2050.
“It seems inconceivable that you could have a government approve this massive oil field which won’t bring down bills, will do almost nothing to support energy security, and yet will release a huge amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere,” said Robert Palmer, deputy director of Uplift.
Adura’s website claims that Rosebank will be one of the lowest emission developments in the UK Continental shelf, and will create £8.5 billion (€10 billion) of direct investment into the UK economy. However, critics argue that since Equinor is owned by the Norwegian government, Norway will likely see more of the profits.
Sarah, who attended the demonstration as a member of UK-based grassroots climate advocacy organisation Parents for Future, said that she’s already concerned about how climate change is affecting her children.
“I’m worried about my kids being able to get medicine once the wildfires, the extreme heat, and the flooding prevent transport and trade,” she told EU Reports. “There is no future if we keep burning fossil fuels.”
Rosie agreed that the UK government’s decision on Rosebank will have serious consequences and wants them to consider how future generations will look back at their actions.
“As people’s homes are more likely to get flooded, as we face food shortages, people will look to the government at this time and say ‘What did you do to protect us’?” she said.
“They really need to follow through with that, or else they will go down in history as making choices that will lead to the deaths of thousands, if not tens of thousands or millions of people.”
Featured image: Courtesy of Emma Bainbridge
