A BP petrol and diesel filling station in southeast of London (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Ed Miliband risks becoming a “lone voice” in his drive for net zero after BP rolled back on its green pledges, Reform has said.
The fossil fuel giant confirmed that it will slash spending on its green businesses by £3.95billion a year and significantly ramp up its oil and gas operations.
MP said: “Ed Miliband is quickly becoming the lone voice and advocate for continuing his barmy net zero plans.”
“If Ed Miliband truly cared about taxpayers and Britain’s economy, they would back North Sea drilling and Rolls-Royce modular reactors. Instead, hardworking Britons are forced to fund his Net Zero fantasies.
“Only Reform UK is committed to cutting waste, lowering taxes, and putting citizens first. Labour never will.”
In its election manifesto, Labour promised clean energy by 2030.
BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss said oil and gas will be “needed for decades to come” while announcing the firm’s rollback on its green pledges.
The firm said it still hopes to become a net-zero company but will only spend up to two billion dollars (£1.6 billion) a year on projects aimed at the energy transition, a significant cut.
It said it will increase oil and gas investment by about 20% to 10 billion US dollars (£7.9 billion) a year as part of a major strategy update.
Mr Auchincloss said: “Global demand for oil and gas to 2035 continues to be robust, including strong growth in natural gas demand from emerging Asian economies.
He added that renewables still pose a “significant opportunity”, and confirmed that the company still wants to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“While the pace and shape of the energy transition is uncertain, we continue to view it as a significant opportunity to grow value.
“Global carbon emissions need to be reduced, and as well as looking for more energy, countries, companies and customers are looking for lower carbon products and services to support their own decarbonization objectives.”
He added that demand for wind and solar power “both continue to grow quickly”.
The International Energy Agency has said no new fossil fuel project is compatible with the globally accepted goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.
But BP now aims to grow production to 2.3 million to 2.5 million barrels of oil a day in 2030.
Chiara Liguori, Oxfam GB’s senior climate justice policy advisor, said: “It is gravely wrong that big polluters like BP can just abandon their climate targets in pursuit of higher profits.
“These profits come with a huge climate cost that impact us all, but it is people living in poverty who are left paying the highest price for a climate crisis they did little to cause.
“Instead of being allowed to increase their polluting activities, fossil fuel companies like BP must be held to account by taxing them more, both to incentivise a fair switch to a low-carbon economy that benefits everyone and to ensure the costs of addressing climate change fall on those most responsible.
“People and planet must be put before profit and greed, for the sake of us all.”
Dozens of campaigners were set to demonstrate outside the energy giant’s offices in London with a banner stating “Big Oil Will Kill Us”.
Meanwhile bans on new gas hobs and petrol lawnmowers should be introduced, the UK’s climate advisers have said.
The advice from the climate change committee (CCC) forms part of its five-yearly advice to the Government on how to meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050.
The committee called on the Government to phase out the sale of gas cookers, as well as petrol and diesel-powered lawnmowers via restrictions on their sale.
It did not provide a timeline but said alternatives – such as induction hobs and battery-powered lawnmowers – were already readily available and “better and more efficient than their fossil fuel equivalents”.