Greenpeace activists have scaled the roof of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s residence and covered it with oil-black fabric to show their opposition to his government’s policy on oil drilling.
Mr. Sunak’s staff stated that neither he nor his family were there at the time since they were on vacation in California.
According to North Yorkshire Police, police were reacting to “reports of protest activity” and were “at the scene and managing the situation.”
On Thursday, Greenpeace UK tweeted a photo of the scene on the messaging app X, previously known as Twitter. The photo showed four protestors who were atop the building in northern England, covering it with large swathes of black cloth while two others held a banner that said, “Rishi Sunak – oil profits or our future?” There was also another protest which was staged outside his official Downing Street residence, as well as his office.
The demonstration was in response to the UK government’s intentions to grant hundreds of licenses to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea, which were revealed on Monday.
Under former Prime Minister Theresa May, in 2019, Britain set the goal of having net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and moved quickly to increase its capacity for renewable energy. Sunak had expressed his optimism that the new project will supply energy from local sources to the country. He also disclosed plans to construct two additional carbon capture and storage facilities, with completion scheduled for 2030.
According to his office, the first 100 drilling permits are anticipated to be awarded in the fall, “unlocking vital reserves which can be brought online faster.”
Despite warnings from groups like the International Energy Agency that leaders must stop investing in fossil fuels if they want to slow the rise in global temperatures, the UK has decided to increase fossil fuel output.
Additionally, it happens to coincide with a summer that has witnessed widespread catastrophic heat waves in Southeast Asia, southern Europe, and portions of the US, which experts say were made substantially more likely by the global climate catastrophe caused by human activity.
Sunak’s decision, according to Greenpeace, is a setback for the UK’s environmental objectives. The organization added that Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the UK, was the target of its protest since Sunak’s administration was about to approve it.
Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner Philip Evans stated “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist.” He went on to say, “Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling. He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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