Businesses and unions in Aberdeen have joined forces to campaign against Labour’s plans to ban any new North Sea licences.
A joint letter signed by Unite and 200 local firms will be unveiled today in Aberdeen highlighting there is no plan to retrain workers or replace the oil and gas that will be left in the North Sea.
Labour has said it will honour existing licences to continue but will not issue new permits.
“UK Labour’s current policy on net zero for the North Sea is to ban all new licences but, currently, they have no detailed plan on a fair, workers’ transition to greener energy and to save 30,000 jobs in Scotland," said the letter.
“This could lead to us importing more oil and gas when we have it on our doorstep.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham added: “Until Labour has a concrete plan for replacing North Sea jobs and ensuring energy security, the ban on new oil and gas exploration licences should not go ahead.”
Advocates of the policy meanwhile want a new fund to be established to pay for the transition of workers away from fossil fuel production.
More than 60 climate organisations signed an open letter sent to all party leaders on Thursday urging that the next government provides a jobs guarantee to ensure every oil and gas worker can find equivalent, alternative employment or funded retraining.
Signatories included Greenpeace, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth, with the letter calling for a total phase-out of oil and gas in the North Sea to meet the UK’s “binding climate commitments.”