Meeting of the Parliament 12 November 2025
The Scottish Greens have secured today’s debate in order to discuss the imminent decision that will be made on the revised application to drill for fossil fuels at the Rosebank field, the United Kingdom’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field. It is one of the most consequential decisions on climate action that will be made this decade.
Four years ago, the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—opened in Glasgow. It was a time of huge momentum for the climate movement, both in Scotland and internationally. In the run-up to the event, the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced her position that Rosebank should not be given the go-ahead. Green MSPs had for some time made the case for that clear stance to be taken, but I am in no doubt that Nicola Sturgeon knew that it was the right position to take. It was right in principle in the face of the climate emergency and also right for Scotland in embracing the transition that we are so well placed to benefit from.
Today, such climate clarity is nowhere to be seen from the Scottish Government. Today’s First Minister cannot take a clear position, the draft climate change plan sidesteps the issue and the Government’s energy strategy seems to have disappeared completely.
The Scottish Greens can and will make the case, explicitly, that the Scottish Government must unequivocally oppose the Rosebank plan. No climate compatibility test worthy of the name can give the go-ahead to this immensely destructive project.