Richard Burgon MP: Rosebank Isn’t Just a Climate Mistake. It’s an International Law Risk

Richard Burgon MP argues that Rosebank would do little for energy security or bills, while aiding the flow of profits to a company operating in illegal Israeli settlements. 

We only have to turn on the TV to see the damage that our dependence on oil and gas is wreaking on our economies and people’s pockets.

Trump’s senseless war on Iran has been the latest crisis driving up energy bills and petrol prices.

With ordinary people again paying the price for conflict-driven price shocks, the fossil fuel industry and its cheerleaders have taken this moment to argue that the answer to this crisis is (conveniently) yet more oil and gas.

They falsely claim fields like the controversial Rosebank project are a magic solution to such economic shocks. That could not be further from the truth.

If the Government approves fields like Rosebank, it risks locking us into our toxic dependence on expensive fossil fuels for longer than is necessary, hindering the decisive shift needed to clean home-grown renewables.

It will put our energy security at risk and leave us even more exposed to the whims of dictators.

There is also no doubt that the vast emissions from burning Rosebank’s reserves are not compatible with a liveable planet or this country’s commitments to tackling climate change.

If granted consent, the field will only reduce the nation’s dependence on gas imports by a measly one percent. 

What’s more, Rosebank’s reserves are almost entirely oil for export on global markets and won’t take a penny off bills here in the UK.

Instead, it would send billions to Norway, which co-owns Rosebank via its state-backed oil firm Equinor. Meanwhile, the UK taxpayer would bear significant development costs through generous tax breaks.

But pointlessly rushing through new fields like Rosebank is not just climate short-termism. The project could fund serious injustice abroad.

Reports suggest more than £200 million from Rosebank could flow to Delek Group, an Israeli fuel conglomerate that has been flagged by the UN for human rights violations in Palestine.

Delek is the majority owner of Ithaca Energy, which co-owns Rosebank.

Delek operates in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Our Government acknowledges that these settlements are illegal under international law. Yet approving Rosebank could allow profits from a UK oil field to flow to a company operating in them.

Delek is also known to have provided fuel to the Israeli military, even as it committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice was clear in its 2024 ruling that states must not render aid or assistance to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and must act to bring it to an end.

The Government should not dismiss these risks. It is well aware of these concerns, having been served with legal notice that approving Rosebank could put it in breach of its international law obligations.

Investigations have already shown that Ithaca Energy has handed over more than $1bn to Delek Group since 2020.

Not one penny of profit from the North Sea should flow to companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements or linked to human rights violations in Palestine.

As oil majors prepare to rake in billions off the back of this war, the UK Government cannot ignore the mounting arguments against the development of new North Sea oil and gas fields.

It must put the interests of ordinary people first, for affordable bills and a liveable climate, not the narrow interests of oil giants.

It has never been clearer that the UK must step off the fossil fuel rollercoaster. Our dependence on oil and gas doesn’t just expose us to economic shocks, it risks tying us to conflict and human rights abuses around the world.

In the interest of justice at home and abroad, the Government must reject Rosebank for good.