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Despite warnings from climate scientists and experts, the UK government is hell-bent on extracting more oil and gas.
The controversial Rosebank oil field - the biggest undeveloped field in the UK was approved by the UK government in September 2023.
Burning Rosebank's oil & gas would produce more CO2 than the 28 lowest-income countries produce in a year, combined. It would also bust climate targets, undermining the government’s climate commitments.
Rosebank has drawn widespread public opposition including 700 scientists and experts, 200 organisations and celebrities, trade union leaders, 400 faith leaders, 40 MEPs and MPs from every major political party.
Rosebank would also threaten protected marine life, while being subsidised billions of pounds by the UK government by around £3 billion by the UK taxpayers (during a cost of living crisis!).
The biggest field deserves the biggest fight. In 2021, we successfully stopped the Cambo oil field by making Shell pull out of the project. We can do it again.
With this decision, the government is siding with oil and gas giants over a liveable future for all—whether that’s a habitable planet, or not having to choose between heating and eating.
The UK government is being taken to court over the decision to approve Rosebank. More info about that here.
IT’S NOT OVER. There are many ways for you to help #StopRosebank. Here’s how you can get involved </aside>

🛢️ About

What happened? The UK government has approved Norwegian oil giant and Britain’s biggest gas supplier Equinor’s application to start developing the Rosebank oil field.
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.
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 Israeli firm Ithaca Energy (Cambo’s new owner).
- More on Equinor’s greenwash and other fights
Who pays? Equinor will pass over 90% of the cost of developing the Rosebank oil field to the UK public, while they take the profits. Thanks to the UK government’s oil and gas tax system which includes huge subsidies, the UK public would hand over £3.75 BILLION 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 push us closer to more parts of our world becoming uninhabitable. It would bust climate targets, undermining the government’s climate commitments.
- 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. Unlike what the government and fossil fuel industry want you to think, Rosebank won’t do anything to lower our energy bills or make our energy supply safer (see more for why). Thanks to a massive and deliberate loophole in the UK’s new windfall tax legislation, Equinor will pass 91% of the cost of developing the Rosebank oil field to the UK public. This means the UK public would hand over around £3 BILLION in tax breaks to Rosebank’s owners just to develop the field. Approving new fields like Rosebank only makes us more dependent on expensive, polluting oil and gas for longer, when we can and should be rapidly switching to clean affordable energy.
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Rosebank is a huge environmental issue: Rosebank is situated right next to a marine protected area and poses a direct threat to the endangered and threatened species that call that area home. A major oil spill from Rosebank could have devastating impacts on marine life and ecosystems in the UK and neighbouring countries. Seismic blasting and construction in the area near Rosebank will disturb endangered species of dolphins, whales and fish - potentially changing behavioural, migrational and living patterns, which could lead to their 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. Climate change is already creating irreversible damage to our endangered ecosystems. We need to be doing what we can to protect them – the last thing we need is more oil fields and more pipelines.
Rosebank is a huge Just Transition issue: every new field is a delay to transition away from risky jobs in oil & gas to decent unionised green jobs. It locks workers in places like Aberdeen into continued volatility. With the right support and investment and led by oil and gas workers, their unions and impacted communities, the move away from fossil fuels could see 3 jobs in clean energy for every oil and gas job.
- 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, insulating millions of leaky homes, and investing in secure green jobs for current oil and gas workers.