Scotland in talks with alliance to end oil and gas production

Scotland in talks with alliance to end oil and gas production

Scotland is in talks with a Europe-dominated alliance seeking to end oil and gas production that has been snubbed by the UK, host of UN climate talks in Glasgow.

Speaking at COP26, Denmark’s climate minister Dan Jorgensen said the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) was in “close dialogue” with Scotland, where most of the UK oil and gas is concentrated in surrounding waters.

The group was formed by Denmark and Costa Rica in September; its members pledge to stop issuing exploration licences and phase out oil production. On Thursday, it added six new members, including Ireland and Wales, France and Sweden, taking the number of governments to 11.

The UK has so far resisted calls by climate campaigners to end oil and gas exploration. Instead, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said in March that it would apply a “climate compatibility” test to new oil and gas licences to ensure they were “compatible with wider climate objectives”.

At COP26, the UK has focused most of its attention on trying to end the use of coal, which is the most polluting fossil fuel.

Offshore oil and gas licensing and regulation in the UK is reserved to Westminster. However, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has in recent months