LONDON, October 1 (DPA/EP) –

Hundreds of people demonstrated this Saturday at London’s Whitehall to ask that the approval of the Rosebank offshore oil field be reconsidered.

“We are used to changes in direction and the Government can make new changes at Rosebank,” said campaign group Fossil Free London representative Robin Wells.

Under his leadership, more than 200 climate change activists gathered outside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero offices in central London to shout slogans of condemnation.

This is just one of several protests against the Rosebank oil field planned for this Saturday across the country.

One of the protesters came dressed as a skeleton while holding a banner that read “100 permits to kill”. The rest gathered on the steps of government departments wore garlands of paper roses and joined the crowd in chants of “stop Rosebank.”

The protest comes after the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), a British Government regulatory body, gave the green light this Wednesday to Rosebank, the UK’s largest untapped oil field.

The field’s owners, Equinor and Ithaca Energy, have received approval for development and production in the enclave, after receiving assurances regarding environmental concerns.

THE FUTURE OF FOSSIL FUEL

However, Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski suggested to Whitehall attendees before they began their protest outside the Norwegian Embassy that public opinion could help stop the project.

“We can’t just be here with anger, we can also be here with hope,” he said, while defending the need to “subsidize the poorest and most vulnerable in society” and “stop subsidizing fossil fuel giants.”

Although the plan has been widely criticized for its impact on climate change, supporters of the project argue that it is important for energy security because it will reduce dependence on imports.

“The only livable future we can have is a future where fossil fuels remain in the earth; The future is a future where we stand together in solidarity, where we speak with authenticity, compassion and care, and where we also talk about science. Polanski said.

FIGHTING ON THE STREETS AND IN COURTS

Meanwhile, the executive director and founder of Uplift, the organization at the forefront of the Rosebank protest movement, Tessa Khan, added that a legal appeal against the agreement was being prepared.

In this regard, he has encouraged the protesters by assuring them that they have a “plan” to stop this “catastrophic” decision and that this includes “fighting the Government and Equinor in the streets and also in the courts.”

Other voices such as actor Sam Swan, of the Equity for a Green New Deal campaign, have joined the protests to urge protesters to “get involved” to help ensure that the companies they work for do not invest in fossil fuels.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said using every drop of Scotland’s North Sea oil was “the right thing to do”.

Sunak also defended, in an interview with STV News, the decision to give the green light to drilling at the Rosebank oil field, which lies more than 100 kilometers west of Shetland and has an estimated capacity of around 300 million barrels of oil.

Critics, including Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, remain adamant that drilling will not hurt any ambitions.