A regulator has given the Rosebank oil field a green light for development and production, sparking fury among climate activists. The government has applauded the decision, given it’s expected to create around 1,600 jobs at its peak during construction and could produce almost 70,000 barrels of oil per day. The government claims its environmental impacts have been subjected to intense scrutiny, but climate campaigners have been critical of the plan for months, with Greenpeace calling Rosebank's approval a "disaster". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 [ Music ]
00:27 >> This is I think is an important thing that's happened today.
00:30 It's good for energy security.
00:31 It's good for jobs and investment in this country.
00:34 And overall it means lower emissions.
00:36 Overall the UK is a net importer of oil which means that we need oil and gas in the future.
00:41 And I think it's important that it's produced here because that means jobs
00:44 and investment right here in the UK.
00:46 [ Background noise ]
00:54 >> Well three years ago the International Energy Agency
00:57 which is the world's leading authority on energy, not some green NGO said,
01:02 if we're going to tackle the climate crisis,
01:04 if we're going to keep the global temperature rise
01:06 to below 1.5 degrees we can have no new fossil fuel projects.
01:10 Three years later we're here and our government has just approved the development
01:15 of the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea.
01:18 Let's be really clear, this is a disaster for the climate.
01:22 [ Background noise ]
01:47 >> I think it is sending out terrible messages to investors and the despair
01:51 that they feel that the UK is not only a country which is running back
01:55 on those commitments but is an unreliable partner, has consequences
01:59 for the whole of the UK economy.
02:00 [ Background noise ]
02:08 >> We will have to have oil as part of the mix going forward.
02:12 The Climate Change Committee has already said that.
02:15 So the question is do we want domestic oil or do we want
02:20 to import foreign oil which is of course not net zero friendly.
02:25 [ Background noise ]