UK Prime Minister Vows Net Zero 2050 Target Despite Jackdaw Gasfield Approval

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed that the country will meet its net zero target for 2050, even as the government approves a new gas project in the North Sea. Net zero means balancing the greenhouse gases a country emits with the amount it removes, so that the net total reaches zero.

The approval concerns the Jackdaw gasfield, which lies in the North Sea. On 21 October, the government announced in a news release that Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh had agreed the regulator can grant consent for gas to be produced at the licensed field. Burnham said drilling there would "protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter", according to The Guardian.

In an opinion piece for the Guardian titled "We will make the net-zero transition work for Britain", Burnham wrote that approving Jackdaw is part of the government's plan. He said gas from the field will begin heating homes and powering businesses this winter. According to the same article, the field is expected to raise UK domestic gas production by about 6% and support the country's energy supply for more than a decade. The project is also expected to add almost £3bn to the UK economy over its lifetime.

Burnham argued that imported gas has a higher carbon footprint than gas produced at home. He said investment in renewable energy would allow the UK to substantially delink gas and electricity prices by the end of the current Parliament, meaning the two would no longer move so closely together.

Burnham also said he will not approve any new North Sea licences. A licence is the permission companies need to explore for and produce oil and gas.

To pay for the transition, the government is setting up an energy wealth fund with an initial £2bn. The fund would convert future tax revenues from North Sea oil and gas into clean-energy programmes. Chancellor John Healey, the government's finance minister, said he expects oil and gas revenues to contribute to the fund.

Jackdaw is not the only North Sea project under review. Fahnbulleh has said she alone will decide whether to approve the Rosebank oilfield.