The chief executive of a North Sea oil company has said the climate emergency is “fake” in now deleted tweets from his personal account, despite his company’s claims it is working towards a net zero carbon emissions target, Channel 4 News can reveal.
Steve Brown, the chief executive of Orcadian Energy, which owns licenses over vast oil reserves in the North Sea, claimed the global drive to meet the Paris Accord target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is “insane” in now deleted personal tweets.
Mr Brown also appeared to suggest on Twitter that Sir David Attenborough was an “idiot” for the renowned broadcaster and natural historian’s position on climate change.
Mr Brown was invited for an interview but he declined the offer and deleted his Twitter account.
Mr Brown was invited for an interview but he declined the offer and deleted his Twitter account.
Climate campaigner Tessa Khan said Mr Brown’s comments on Twitter should “raise alarm bells for all of us”, as the government is trusting the fossil fuel industry to help reach the net zero target and "these are the sorts of people that it has entrusted that to.”
Ownership of North Sea Oil licenses has changed in recent years as bigger firms have sold off reserves to smaller companies like Orcadian Energy, according to research by @DeSmogBlog and think tank Common Wealth shared exclusively with Channel 4 News.
@DeSmogBlog A spokesperson for Orcadian Energy said “what individuals believe is irrelevant”, adding “what really matters is the significant work Orcadian Energy has done” to make its proposed development scheme as “clean as possible”.
@DeSmogBlog Watch the full story by @C4Ciaran tonight on Channel 4 News
@DeSmogBlog @C4Ciaran And you can watch all our coverage of the Emergency on Planet Earth on our new website: channel4.com/climate
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