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Despite warnings from climate scientists and experts the controversial Rosebank oil field - the biggest undeveloped field in the UK - was approved by the Tory government last year.
The court has now ruled the Rosebank oil field unlawful and its approval has been overturned. The government now has the chance to remake the decision after their oil & gas consultation concludes in spring. The key is to make as much noise as possible to make sure that they make the right decision to reject Rosebank.
Burning Rosebank's oil and gas would produce more CO2 than the 28 poorest countries do in a year. This would also bust UK climate targets - Rosebank is not compatible with a safe climate.
Rosebank won’t do anything to lower our energy bills, save jobs or make our energy supply more secure. Despite oil giant Equinor and Ithaca making billions off the back of the energy crisis, the UK public are set to hand over billions in tax breaks for them to develop Rosebank.
Some of Rosebank’s vast oil profits could flow to a company that operates in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.
Rosebank's pipeline would cut through a Marine Protected Area, which poses a direct threat to protected marine life.
Approving fields like Rosebank only makes us more dependent on expensive, polluting oil and gas for longer.
People want change: not the same rip-off energy system where oil giants walk off with massive profits while we’re left with higher bills, declining jobs and a worsening climate crisis. It’s time for a rapid and just transition to homegrown clean affordable energy that prioritises community and justice.
Rosebank has drawn widespread public opposition including 700 scientists and experts, 200 organisations and celebrities, trade unionists, 400 faith leaders, 40 MEPs and MPs from every major political party.
There are many ways for you to help #StopRosebank. </aside>

🛢️ About

What’s Rosebank? Located off the coast of Shetland, Rosebank is the biggest undeveloped oil field in the UK. Rosebank is huge. It is nearly 3x the size of Cambo - the oil field that we successfully stopped in 2021. 90% of its reserves are oil, which is likely to be exported. The Conservative government approved Norwegian oil giant and Britain’s biggest gas supplier Equinor’s application to start developing the Rosebank oil field last year.
Who profits? Oil and gas giant Equinor, which is majority-owned by the Norwegian government, owns 80% of Rosebank. The last 20% is owned by Ithaca Energy (also Cambo’s owner).
- More on Equinor and Ithaca
Who pays? Equinor and Ithaca will pass the majority of the cost of developing the Rosebank oil field to the UK public, while they take the profits. The UK public would hand over BILLIONS in tax breaks to Rosebank’s owners just to develop the field. While the cost of the climate crisis will be paid most by those who have contributed the least to climate change (people of colour and working class people, especially in the Global South).
More details on the Rosebank oil field

⚠️The problem

Rosebank is a huge climate issue. Scientists have warned global leaders time and time again that governments can't allow any more new oil and gas if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C. Just burning the fossil fuels in existing UK oil and gas fields will contribute to pushing us past “safe” climate limits. And adding new reserves, like Rosebank, will bust UK climate targets and push us closer to more parts of our world becoming uninhabitable.
- More
Rosebank is a huge global justice issue. The CO2 from burning the fossil fuels in just this one field would be equal to the annual emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries in the Global South combined. These are among the same countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis who are already experiencing some of the worst impacts of an overheating planet.
- More
Rosebank is a huge cost of living issue. Rosebank won’t do anything to lower our energy bills or make our energy supply more secure. Thanks to an incredibly generous tax system, Equinor will pass the majority of the cost of developing the Rosebank oil field to the UK public. This means the UK public would hand over BILLIONS in tax breaks to Rosebank’s owners just to develop the field. Rosebank will only make us more dependent on expensive, polluting oil and gas for longer and further delay the transition to clean affordable energy.
- More
Rosebank is a human rights issue: some of Rosebank’s vast oil profits could flow to a company that operates in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. The oil company behind Rosebank and Cambo, ****Ithaca, is majority-owned by the Delek Group, which operates in Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Delek Group is expected to receive around £253 million in revenue from Rosebank. Delek has been listed by the UN amongst businesses that are enabling, facilitating and profiting from the construction and growth of Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory. Delek also has links to the Israeli Defense Forces.
- More
Rosebank is a huge environment issue: Rosebank is right next to a Marine Protected Area and threatens the endangered species that call it home. A major oil spill from Rosebank would have catastrophic impacts - it could reach not just the shores around Scotland and Norway but as far as the coasts of Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands. Loud drilling, seismic blasting and construction at Rosebank will disturb dolphins, whales and fish - potentially disrupting their behaviour and migration, and even causing deaths. The pipeline needed to transport (the tiny amount of) gas reserves would cut through a specially protected seabed - the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt. It could harm this delicate ecosystem and the extraordinary creatures like sensitive deep sea sponges and clams that can live for over 500 years - some of the oldest animals on the planet.
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New fields like Rosebank won’t solve the decline of jobs in the North Sea. Over the past decade, the number of jobs supported by the oil and gas industry in the UK has more than halved, despite new fields being approved. This is because the North Sea basin itself is in decline. In a declining basin, the way to create long-term secure jobs is to invest in a just transition and support workers to transition into clean energy industries that have a future. Continued investment in oil and gas only delays the transition to clean energy. What is needed to support oil and gas workers and communities is a coherent and fair plan for the transition that addresses their concerns, and in particular workers' rights, conditions, pay skills and training.
- More

💡 The solutions

For a safe climate and affordable energy, we need to stop expanding oil and gas production. The energy crisis and the climate crisis are caused by our reliance on expensive fossil fuels. We need a rapid transition to renewable energy, insulation for millions of leaky homes, and investment in secure green jobs for current oil and gas workers.
We need a Just Transition. The government needs to provide a plan for a just and properly funded transition for oil and gas workers and the communities that depend on them.
- This must get into the specifics of where and how jobs will be created, backed up with investment, as well as making it easier for workers to retrain, providing job guarantees, and improving the quality of offshore energy jobs.