Greenpeace insisted that by giving the green light to the development, the government “did not take into account” emissions or the “ultimate climate impact” of the project.
The approval approved the drilling of four production wells and the installation of a 31km pipeline from the Jackdaw WHP to the Shearwater platform in the central North Sea.
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Ami McCarthy Greenpeace UK It added: “We believe this is illegal and we are considering legal action to stop the jackdaws and fight against it every step of the way.”
Her comments came after UK Business and Energy Secretary Quasi Kwaten confirmed Shell had received approval for the field, which is located in waters east of Aberdeen.
Energy giant Shell said its peak jackdaws “are expected to provide 6.5% of UKCS (UK Continental Shelf) gas production with less than 1% of UKCS emissions and generate the energy equivalent to heating 1.4 million UK homes”.
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Mr Kwarteng confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that “the Jackdaw gas field – originally licensed in 1970 – has today received final regulatory approval”.
“We’re turbocharging renewables and nuclear, but we’re also being realistic about our energy needs right now,” he tweeted.
“Let’s get more of the gas we need from British waters to protect energy security.”
But the decision sparked outrage from environmental campaigners, with Ms McCarthy claiming the approval was “a desperate and damaging decision by the Johnson government”.
Activists organised a protest yesterday afternoon outside Queen Elizabeth Building, the centre of British government in Edinburgh.Over 3,600 people signed a petition Opposed to the field by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Greenpeace and Uplift.
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She added: “Once again, they are issuing lucrative licences to companies like Shell for a project that won’t start producing gas for many years, which won’t lower our bills, but will create massive emissions, cause deadly floods and Wildfires, and the mass migration of people fleeing the climate crisis.”
Kate Norgrove, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, called the decision an “amazing step backward in climate change.”
“The most cost-effective solution to the energy crisis is to end our reliance on harmful fossil fuels once and for all, by rapidly scaling up renewable energy and dramatically improving household energy efficiency,” she said.
“The UK government must quickly reconsider the direction they are heading, which is clearly in breach of their legally binding net zero commitments.”
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Meanwhile, Tessa Khan of campaign group Uplift claimed the approval of the jackdaws was “very disappointing and misunderstood”.
She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland: “The government has taken a disastrous and wrong decision when people need real solutions.”
Ms Khan added: “Of course we know that if we’re going to remain in a livable climate, we can’t actually have any new oil or gas infrastructure or fields.”
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Katrine Bussey is PA Scottish Political Editor
