Thread by @ClientEarth

In the latest development today, the UK government has announced it will back its commitment to new oil and gas ahead of the king's speech.

This flies in the face of science and binding climate targets 🧵
theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/n…

The UK simply can't be a climate leader with this approach. This will lock the UK into expensive and polluting forms of energy while making it harder to meet its legally-binding emissions reduction targets.

Allowing multinational oil and gas companies to drill for more gas in the North Sea will do nothing to bring down household energy bills, nor help UK energy independence and security.

The UK needs more clean energy investment to create long-term green jobs, with the renewables transition fast underway, and it needs the right policy signals to attract that investment, or risk falling behind.

We're already challenging the gov’s existing climate plan on the grounds that it cannot be relied on to deliver the UK’s carbon budgets. Any reduction in the overall strength of the government’s policies means the UK falls further behind what the Climate Change Act requires.

We will continue to keep a close eye on further developments to see how they affect the UK’s compliance with its legal obligations.