Russia and USA: Natural Gas and Oil

(asked on 29th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of plans by the governments of the United States and Russia to allow test drilling for (1) gas, and (2) oil, on land in the Arctic or in the Arctic Ocean, and (3) the compatibility of these plans with those nations’ commitments under the Paris Agreement.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 13th July 2021

Decisions on oil and gas activities, including Arctic drilling, are matters for the relevant national authorities. We recognise the global impacts the changes in the Arctic environment will have, such as global sea-level rises and threatening our shared biodiversity. As such, we are committed to halting and reversing biodiversity loss and protecting nature. The UK welcomes President Biden's recent announcement to suspend oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, pending an environmental review as a step in the right direction.

The implementation of ending the UK's support for new fossil fuels projects overseas demonstrates the UK's international leadership on climate. It is a proactive way to pivot support to clean energy and drive down global emissions. The G7 has now committed to phasing out international fossil fuel finance, starting with coal, and to bend the curve of biodiversity loss by 2030. Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, we welcome the United States' updated Nationally Determined Contributions target of 50-52% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in 2030 below 2005 levels. We are encouraging Russia as a G20 economy to also commit to reductions in line with the Paris Agreement Commitments.

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