Arctic Report Card

Viscount Hanworth Excerpts

Monday 28th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Parminter]

My Lords—

[Viscount Hanworth]

My Lords—

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally)]

My Lords, there is time for both sides. Perhaps we can hear first from the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth.

[Viscount Hanworth]

My Lords, an example of extreme folly is the manner in which we are allowing petroleum companies to pursue the exploration of oil and gas in the Arctic as the reduction of ice cover renders this more practical. Can the Minister tell us what steps, if any, the Government are taking to restrain such activities?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the fact of the matter is that we will need supplies of oil for the near future. Although we work very hard with our partner countries to ensure that everything is done in an environmentally safe way and with consideration to the environment and locations, we cannot dictate to the Arctic states or to the Arctic Council how they progress with their drilling. However, we know that they take the issue very seriously and are very environmentally effective when it comes to the security and safety of how they drill.