Rosebank Oilfield: Government Policy

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Westminster Hall

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Carla Denyer]

I will make a little more progress. The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are clear: opening new oil and gasfields is incompatible with limiting warming in line with the Paris agreement. This is the key point in this debate: globally, even if we only extract all the oil, gas and coal in existing wells and mines, we will release seven times more emissions than would keep us within 1.5° of warming. That means that there must be no new oil and gas extraction at all.

[Carla Denyer]

Unfortunately, it sounds as if the hon. Member might be suffering under some misapprehensions about the facts of the case. The fact is that this oil and gas would be sold on international markets, as I will come on to in just a moment.

[Warinder Juss]

Employment in oil and gas has fallen significantly over the last decade, but the UK is forecast to be reliant on oil and gas until 2050. Does the hon. Lady agree that a just transition requires the Government to do their utmost to create high-quality clean energy jobs as quickly as possible, so that we can not only challenge the climate crisis, but keep our skilled workers in employment?

[Carla Denyer]

I agree absolutely; it is almost as if the hon. Member has been peeking at my notes. I am now going to plough on, because quite a lot of interventions have predicted something I am about to say.

I have put the climate case against Rosebank, but the economic case is equally powerful. Rosebank will not bring down my constituents’ energy bills, nor anyone else’s. New oil and gas production in the UK will do nothing to affect market price here, which is set internationally and has been driven up by Donald Trump’s war in Iran. As Equinor has confirmed, Rosebank’s oil will be sold on the open market. Hon. Members should not just my word for it: a former Conservative Energy Secretary admitted that new oilfields will do nothing to bring down the price of energy. The current Energy Secretary has said that

“if you care about affordability, North Sea does not solve that problem for you”.

By contrast, renewables are already saving us money. Since the start of the Hormuz crisis, record-high UK wind and solar generation has avoided the need for gas imports worth £5.9 billion. That is what real energy independence looks like. Although I welcome the progress and ambition on renewables that we have seen under this Government, it does not and never will justify the extraction of new fossil fuels. Every day, I am emailed by Bristol Central constituents struggling with the seemingly never-ending affordability crisis, and energy bills are now set to jump by another £276 from January.

Climate Change

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pippa Heylings]

Absolutely, I agree with the hon. Member.

Let us no longer hide from this, but look it clearly in the eye: there are clear costs. They are no longer in the future; they are here now. There are costs to our economy, but also to our communities.

Let us talk about food costs. Food supplies are coming under increasing pressure. Three of the UK’s worst harvests on record have occurred within the last five years, hitting our farmers and driving up costs for families at every shop. Floods and wildfires are making homes uninsurable and putting lives and livelihoods at risk. But this is much more than a story about a few hot days. If we think that this week’s heat is uncomfortable, the difficult truth is that what today feels exceptional will increasingly become normal, and without purposeful climate action, it will keep on getting worse.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

The hon. Member is making an important speech. Climate change is one of those issues that my constituents contact me about all the time, particularly my young constituents. This is something that really bothers them as much as it does us. Does she agree that climate change is something we are experiencing now—we know that when we step outside? Does she also agree that a dead planet with plenty of jobs is no good for any of us, so we need to focus on this and deal with it?

[Pippa Heylings]

Like the hon. Member, I regularly meet young people across my constituency. I find it hard to look my children and children in my constituency and beyond in the eye, because that is one of the things they talk about the most. I challenge any MP in this Chamber to say that they do not receive those emails or have those meetings in schools where this issue is brought up. I feel that responsibility deeply, and I believe that that feeling is shared across the majority of those in this Chamber.

Without action, we risk handing our children and the next generation a Britain where extreme heat regularly keeps children out of classrooms. Did we not learn from covid, during which the more disadvantaged were left behind because they were told to go home? They did not have large homes, cool gardens or broadband, and that is happening yet again this week. We will have a Britain in which thousands die prematurely each summer and in which water scarcity, with a deficit of 5 billion litres a day of public water, is a reality. In my constituency of South Cambridgeshire, which is one of the most water-stressed in the country, this issue is affecting growth right now, so we know how critical it is.

Oral Answers to Questions

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ed Miliband]

The hon. Gentleman makes his point in his own way. As I say, I believe the SNP’s position makes no sense. I gently point out to him that although he might have had grand ambitions, with no delivery they are completely worthless—and that was the Conservatives’ record on nuclear.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

7. What estimate he has made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on energy bills for public services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)]

Great British Energy’s mission is to power Britain with clean, secure and home-grown energy. It has already started that work, with Great British Energy and the Government funding around 250 school and 260 hospital solar installations, including at Rakegate primary school and Ormiston NEW Academy in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

[Warinder Juss]

In my constituency, almost one in five households have been living in fuel poverty, struggling to heat their homes this winter. I welcome the Government’s commitment to lifting 1 million more households out of fuel poverty by 2030, which will have a significant impact on my constituents. Will the Minister please outline what other tangible changes my constituents can expect to see over the next year thanks to GB Energy, so that by the time we come to next winter they can feel comfortable that they can now afford to heat their homes?

[Martin McCluskey]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I know that he is focused, as I am, on reducing energy bills for his constituents and people across the country. I have already spoken about the extensive investment in solar not just in his constituency but across the country. People in Wolverhampton and across the country will also be benefiting from our action to reduce energy costs by an average of £150 this April. That is in addition to continuing the warm home discount for nearly 6 million eligible households this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to increase co-operation with other countries to tackle climate change.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

18. What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling climate change.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)]

In the best traditions of the UK, we see it as our duty to work with other countries to tackle the climate crisis and protect future generations. It was British leadership that saw the Climate Change Act 2008 emulated in 60 countries across the world, and it was the leadership of the UK at COP26 that now sees 80% of global GDP covered by net zero. We will maintain that tradition of leadership into COP30 in Brazil and beyond.

[Ed Miliband]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and Ella for her interest in and enthusiasm for this incredibly important issue. Deforestation is a terrible thing for the planet, but it is also terrible for the people who are affected—the indigenous people who live in the forest. Nature-based solutions and solutions that put indigenous people at the centre make a huge difference. This is a COP in the forest, and I think the Brazilian presidency deserves congratulations on that emphasis. It is developing a number of initiatives, including the so-called TFFF—the tropical forest forever facility—to finance the prevention of deforestation, and we are working with it on that.

[Warinder Juss]

Young people in my constituency of Wolverhampton West are particularly concerned about protecting the environment and the future of our planet. I have been contacted by students at Wolverhampton girls’ high school and St Edmund’s Catholic academy, and recently I was proud to attend a climate justice art exhibition prepared by pupils at St Teresa’s Catholic primary academy. What steps are we taking to encourage international awareness of the dangers of global warming and the need to recycle and limit plastic waste, thereby also reducing marine pollution?

[Ed Miliband]

Plastic waste is something that my colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs work on. I think my hon. Friend’s wider point is important. There is a global context to this—and sometimes that context might not actually be as it appears—which is that, when we look across the world, we see that countries are still acting on these issues. Why? Because they recognise that it is in their national interest economically and in the long term for future generations. There is no future if people bury their heads in the sand and say, “We’re not going to act.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy]

First of all, I am sure the whole House will want to send support to Spain and Portugal following the incidents yesterday. There were no effects in the UK, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation and any lessons learned from this event. I am not going to speculate as to its causes, but we do need to ensure that our own systems are as resilient as possible.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to establish international leadership on climate change.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to establish international leadership on climate change.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Kerry McCarthy)]

International leadership on climate change is critical for this Government, which is why we announced a world-leading nationally determined contribution at COP29 and were at the heart of negotiations during the summit. I have been working extensively with international counterparts to ensure maximum ambition from countries around the world at COP30, and look forward to further engagement.

[Warinder Juss]

I recently received letters from year 4 children at SS Peter and Paul primary school expressing concern over the impact of climate change on their futures, mentioning the extreme weather and the destruction of our natural habitats for our wildlife. The UK’s 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2002, and 2022 was the UK’s hottest year, with temperatures exceeding 40° for the first time. Despite being eight to nine years old, they gave suggestions for how the Government could help by providing cleaner sources of energy, such as making solar panels more affordable. Will the Secretary of State reassure me and those pupils that we are doing everything we can to be a world leader in tackling climate change and to sustain the future for our children?

[Kerry McCarthy]

I am glad to hear that the children at SS Peter and Paul primary school are taking such an interest in this issue. I can assure them that we are doing all we can to make Britain a clean energy superpower, such as lifting the onshore wind ban and setting up Great British Energy, and we are protecting nature too. We are also committed to engaging more with young people, and I will make sure my hon. Friend is kept informed of our plans.