Climate groups urge Welsh Government to block Rosebank oil field

Abby Neve

A coalition of over 20 partner organisations have published an open letter urging the First Minister to put pressure on the UK Government to reject the proposed Rosebank North Sea oil development.

Campaigners say the Rosebank oil field, which carries lifetime emissions estimated at 254 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, directly conflicts with Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act and commitments under the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.

Bethan Sayed, Head of Politics at Climate Cymru, said: “Wales has the talent, resources, and vision to lead a fair, community-driven energy transition. By investing directly in home insulation, local grids, and Welsh community renewables, we can protect families from volatile bills and keep energy wealth where it belongs – in our local communities.”

“The First Minister must champion these homegrown Welsh solutions and urge the UK Government to choose a clean, resilient future over destructive fossil fuel projects like Rosebank.”

“The letter highlights that new extraction will neither lower household energy bills nor improve energy security, pointing to record UK wind and solar generation in March 2026 that saved £1 billion in gas imports.”

“With North Sea energy jobs halving over the last decade despite new project approvals, signatories stress that investing in green sectors, home insulation, local grids, and community renewables offers a far more durable future for the workforce and local economy.”

The letter, addressed to the First Minister, states: “We are writing to ask that you raise the voice of Wales by writing to or requesting an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham to urge the UK Government to immediately reject the Rosebank oil field and halt any further North Sea oil and gas expansion.

“Throughout your career and leading into this new administration, you have consistently articulated the vital role Wales must play on the global stage and the immense opportunities that flow from accelerating a just transition to clean energy…

“The consequences of pushing past critical tipping points are already devastating families and communities in Wales and across the globe through extreme heatwaves, drought, and unprecedented flooding.

“Experts warn that unchecked warming threatens extreme stress on the UK’s nature and food production systems, creating severe risks of domestic food security failure and systemic infrastructure damage.

“Indeed, our broader national security is directly at stake, as highlighted in the UK Government’s own national security assessment on biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, environmental breakdown is now a primary threat to national resilience and stability.”

‘Betrayal of our generation’

Willow Edwards, Cardiff Team Organiser at Green New Deal Rising, said that young people are ‘anxious’ about the climate crisis, and that approving licenses for new oil would be the wrong path. He said:

“We know that it is our futures that are directly at risk… Approving licenses for new oil would be another betrayal of our generation. In the midst of wildfires, heatwaves and drought, the First Minister has an opportunity to stand irrefutably with Welsh young people, by pushing back on new oil and championing the clean energy transition.”

Margaret Minhinnick, from Sustainable Wales, believes that extraction will not bring reward:

“New extraction at Rosebank or Jackdaw will do nothing to bring down energy bills and will jeopardise UK efforts to decarbonise and reduce our global climate leadership role.”

‘No role for extending the extraction of fossil fuels’

A representative for the Welsh Government said: “We’ve started work on Wales’s first Climate and Nature Action Plan to support our 2040 net zero ambition, and substantive nature recovery by 2050.

“Policy in Wales is clear that we will not undertake any new petroleum licensing in Wales, and we will be setting a new emissions target as part of our National Energy Strategy later this year. We see no role for extending the extraction of fossil fuels.”

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