Tessa Khan

With the right policies and commitment to act, we could see: thriving supply chains & thousands of good, secure jobs in domestic wind manufacturing; oil & gas workers properly supported to move into these jobs; and renewable energy that makes Scottish communities wealthier.
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The UK has burned most of its gas & most of the oil is exported. By 2050 the UK will be almost completely reliant on gas imports, even if new fields & licences go ahead. So the risks and opportunities for the next Scottish Government are huge.
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The next Scot Government has power to change this. But not if the narrow interests of oil & gas companies are allowed to dominate debates. We know new drilling won’t lower bills or protect workers in the long term, nor will it shore up our energy security.
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Right now Scottish communities are seeing renewable infrastructure being built but not always seeing economic benefit. The North Sea is in irrevocable decline, yet Scotland's oil & gas workers are still waiting for a plan for their future. This is largely a failure of successive govts policies /2

Make Energy Work for Scotland - Blogpost from Uplift (News) Scotland has everything it needs to win big from the energy transition. But right now, it is missing out. Here are our proposals for the next Scottish Government to ensure that it delivers for Scotlan...

Scotland has everything it needs to win big from the energy transition: a proud industrial heritage, skilled energy workforce & world class renewable resources. As the 2026 elections approach, Uplift has developed our proposals for making energy work for Scotland: 🧵
www.upliftuk.org/post/make-en...

If you're at SNP Conference on Sunday, we've got a brilliant line up at our panel on how the SNP can help make a fair North Sea transition a reality, including the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy. Details 👇 - come along for a timely & vital discussion (& breakfast spread 🥐 !)

As the Tories & Reform increasingly look backwards for answers, the Climate Jobs coalition represents a genuinely hopeful & forward-looking politics. Plenty of work still to do but this is the kind of political realignment that feels like a potential turning point in energy policy & politics. END

Clean Energy Made in the UK - Report from Uplift (Publication) The UK is presented with an enormous opportunity to establish a thriving domestic wind manufacturing industry, as the country transitions to clean energy, according to a new report, Clean Energy Made ...

attended by GMB, Prospect, energy cos, MPs & Scottish MSPs, where the opportunity for significant job creation in the clean energy supply chain was discussed, incl. at a scale that ensures a fair transition away from North Sea oil & gas. More from us on that here: www.upliftuk.org/post/clean-e...
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...the coalition behind the shift away from fossil fuels will expand to include the labour movement, the climate movement & the majority of the UK public who support renewables over FF on energy security & affordability grounds. We also cohosted a roundtable in Liverpool on O&G transition...
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...and trailed measures that the UK gov will introduce to ensure clean energy jobs are good jobs (eg a Fair Work Charter). The (small 'p') political shift this represents is significant. Unions are rightly concerned with the interests of their members--as that membership grows in clean energy...
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GMB chief Gary Smith who has, shall we say, expressed past scepticism re climate policy, started by recognising that working class communities are impacted first by the climate crisis. Ed Miliband responded by stating that TU voices aren't an 'optional extra' in his clean energy jobs plan...
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While the Tory party's energy & climate policy grows increasingly detached from reality, worth reflecting on a remarkable, under-reported event at Labour conference: the launch of Climate Jobs UK, a campaign by GMB, Prospect & other TUs focused on the creation of good jobs in the energy transition
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And none of it exists in quantities that will materially affect prices or our energy security. The only way to ultimately bring down bills is by getting gas out of our electricity mix and investing in renewables, which is also our best shot at energy security and averting the climate crisis.

Nick Robinson on Today this AM was completely wrong to suggest that pumping more oil & gas from the North Sea would lower bills, something even former Tory Energy Secretaries have accepted.

We’ve burned most of the gas and export the vast majority of the oil—and oil is basically what’s left…

Ed Miliband considers expansion of existing North Sea oil fields While Labour pledged to ban new oil and gas fields, the energy secretary is looking into ‘tiebacks’ — small expansions of existing sites

Ministers are considering a green light to expand existing North Sea oil and gas fields despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to ban new ones.

@tessakhan.bsky.social says industry figures for those expansions are a "fantasy"

Labour says manifesto will be met

Story 👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Where there was clear agreement was on the strong case for LibDems to lead on climate & that the future of the N Sea matters. IMO this conversation is welcome, as is recognition that leadership on phasing out oil & gas and a fair transition for communities don't need to be mutually exclusive. END

Alistair represents a constituency that has really benefited from its oil & gas links. But he's conscious of the geological reality of a declining basin & rightly makes the case that communities need to feel the benefits of all the clean energy projects that are proliferating in Scotland.
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It's no surprise that proper transition planning is important to MPs repping voters in Scotland--there's no question it is crucial to get this right. At our panel on North Sea transition with @pippaheylings.bsky.social & @amcarmichaelmp.bsky.social we heard these concerns play out in real time.
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Before we get swept away by Trumps latest stream of consciousness, quick reflections on how the future of the Nth Sea played out at Lib Dem party conference which just wrapped. In short, LD declared themselves parliament's climate champions & underlined the importance of bringing communities along.🧵

Letter: UK choice — boost oil and gas imports or ramp up renewables From Tessa Khan, Executive Director of Uplift

"This isn't a choice between more North Sea drilling or imports — that ship has sailed. It’s between more imports or ramping up renewables. The transition must be better planned...but as long as the spectre of more drilling hovers, governments will continue to delay."

My letter in today's FT:

"The reality is that the small print in the industry's own reports show that there is vanishingly small amounts of gas thats left to be extracted from the North Sea."

Tessa Khan, Executive Director & Founder at Uplift, @tessakhan.bsky.social. On LBC with Clare Foges @lbc.co.uk.

If you're in sunny Bournemouth today, come along to the cracking panel we've organised to discuss how to secure a fair transition for the North Sea.
Speakers include Lib Dem climate spokes @pippaheylings.bsky.social MP, Alastair Carmichael MP, Elliot Chapman-Jones & @dominicmhinde.bsky.social (& me)

Good luck, Dominic!

If I get to Bournemouth (currently stuck on a train in the dark in Hampshire) I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the Marriott together with @tessakhan.bsky.social and @amcarmichaelmp.bsky.social at 11.30 on the future of the North Sea. Come, bring questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

A recent survey of O&G workers confirms they want more investment in wind manufacturing & ports to create jobs; more pressure on renewable firms to grow UK supply chains; more help to move into these jobs. New licensing will do nothing to change a trajectory the industry has been on for years. END

...We need investment in manufacturing & assembly renewables here, incl. in ports. Eking out a bit more oil & gas from what is already an unattractive investment prospect (which is why investors have been leaving long before Labour was elected) is not the answer.
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To ignore the reality that the O&G industry in the UK has been declining for a decade bc of geology, not politics, would be a disservice to supply chains & workers that need investment in the North Sea’s future in renewables. If we want to keep supply chains here...
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A “no constraints case” would require massive tax breaks, sustained high oil prices (which few in the industry are anticipating) and/or a miraculous boost to investor confidence in an aging & expensive basin. So let's keep any conversation about the impact of tiebacks in perspective.
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Industry claims that 7.3 bn barrels are within reach of current fields. This is fantasy. Even the industry's own analysis shows that tiebacks within 50km of existing fields could at most deliver just 0.4 billion barrels of O&G PLUS that's in a "no constraints scenario"
bsky.app/profile/tess...
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Labour looks to water down North Sea drilling ban Ed Miliband is expected to allow exploration next to existing sites to increase fossil fuel production without breaking a manifesto pledge

Some highly questionable industry assertions about ‘tiebacks’ and new oil & gas exploration licensing covered by the Sunday Times this morning, incl. the volume of potential production & the impact on jobs & supply chains. Let's take a closer look: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...