Just Stop Oil activists covered a UK government building in paint on Thursday, claiming it has “blood on its hands” after approving the North Sea Jackdaw gas field.
Nine members of the group threw red paint over the entrance of Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, demanding the Government halt all new North Sea oil and gas licences and consents.
Messages including “blood on your hands” were daubed on the windows and walls of the building, near the capital’s Waverley station, which houses the offices of several UK government departments including HMRC, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Stop Jackdaw – a sister group to the long-running Stop Cambo campaign – announced its intention to hold “emergency rallies” in London and Edinburgh on Thursday morning, following the approval of the Shell-operated gas field late on Wednesday afternoon.
The group has argued that exploiting the field will not lead to lower energy bills and “will do next to nothing for UK energy security,” while burning its gas reserves would create the equivalent of more than half of Scotland’s annual emissions.
What is Jackdaw good for?
Shell has pointed to Jackdaw gas being used to help justify electrification at the Shearwater hub in the North Sea, bringing down emissions, as well as its link to the Acorn CCS site at St Fergus.
The oil giant said it would develop the Jackdaw field, which could produce enough gas to supply 1.4 million homes, after receiving regulatory approval on Wednesday.
Shell estimates its development would be worth £500 million to the UK supply chain.
However anti-fossil fuel campaigners have said Shell’s investment in the field means it could pay £200 million less in windfall tax over the next few years than it would have done otherwise.
This would likely be due to tax allowances announced by UK chancellor Rishi Sunak as he imposed a windfall tax on the industry to fund support for citizens affected by soaring energy and fuel costs.
Shell declined to comment on the tax rebate figure.
The project’s approval comes as some six million UK households are reportedly facing blackouts this winter as Europe competes for supply.
All nine protestors are expected to be arrested for criminal damage.
Alex, a 24-year-old PhD student from Glasgow studying hydrogen production as a green fuel said: “Commissioning new fossil fuel facilities are the morally bankrupt plans of a criminal cartel protecting oil and gas over life on earth.
“That is why this announcement has been made the night before the Queen’s Jubilee, they think we won’t notice, they think we won’t care, we are here to show them that they are wrong.”
Commissioning new fossil fuel facilities are the morally bankrupt plans of a criminal cartel protecting oil and gas over life on earth.”
Alex, a Just Stop Oil activist
Another, 23-year-old political science student Su, said: “I believe that we have to do anything in our power to show that we’re not ok with these destructive policies.
“New oil and gas is not the solution, it’s not providing energy security or dealing with the cost of living crisis.
“If this government really wanted that they would be insulating homes and investing in renewables.”
A spokesperson for HMRC, which manages the building, said: “There was a small demonstration outside our Queen Elizabeth House site in Edinburgh this afternoon.
“Police have been in attendance and our services are unaffected.”
We’re not going anywhere.
Outside the UK Government building in Edinburgh today, our message could not have been more clear: we will fight back, and use every tool we can to delay and eventually stop this field.
📣 Together, we can #StopJackdaw pic.twitter.com/PsWSe8mAdQ
— StopCambo #StopJackdaw (@StopCambo) June 2, 2022
A further rally is scheduled to take place outside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) offices near Westminster at 6pm on Thursday evening.
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