New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to reintroduce the moratorium on highly controversial hydraulic fracturing, which allows gas and oil to be produced from shale, lifted last month by his predecessor Liz Truss, Downing Street said on Wednesday.
This moratorium on hydraulic fracturing had been introduced in 2019 by the conservative executive due to the risk of seismic tremors, but Liz Truss had decided to lift it in England “to reinforce energy security” in the context of the war in Ukraine. In her first face-to-face meeting with the Labor opposition in parliament on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak said she was “sticking to the (Tory) agenda on the issue”.
The 2019 Conservative platform emphasizes that the ban on hydraulic fracturing cannot be lifted until “the science shows categorically that it can be done safely.” Downing Street has confirmed that Rishi Sunak wants to join this show on this. This summer, when he was running to succeed Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak had said, however, that he was in favor of hydraulic fracturing “if local communities support” the technology.
Compliance with COP26 agreements
Liz Truss’s lifting of the moratorium had sparked the anger and concern of environmental activists, who argue that fracking causes earthquakes in addition to pollution risks and generates little additional energy. Greenpeace welcomed the reversal announced on Wednesday and “called on Sunak to also end the issuance of new oil and gas exploration licences.”
During her 49 days in office, Liz Truss had also announced that she wanted to re-examine the country’s path to carbon neutrality and promised a policy of post-Brexit deregulation with the possible removal of hundreds of environmental protection laws. She had also appointed Jacob Rees-Mogg, known for his borderline climate-skepticism, as energy minister.
Rishi Sunak, who became prime minister on Tuesday, underlined before the British parliamentarians his “commitment” to respect the agreements of the COP26 that took place last year in Glasgow, “because we want to give our children an environment in the best conditions “.
Source: BFM TV
