No New Oil: climate change campaigners stage protest against Jackdaw gas plans at Manchester petrol station

Environmental campaigners staged a protest outside a Manchester petrol station to demonstrate against a fossil fuel giant’s plans to drill for gas in the North Sea.

Manchester Greenpeace and Greater Manchester Climate Justice activists stood outside a Shell petrol station in Rusholme to show their opposition to drilling in the Jackdaw field.

Greenpeace has launched a legal challenge against the Government’s decision to approve the new gas field, and the Manchester event was part of a wave of protests at Shell sites across the country.

The campaigners say the urgency of the climate emergency means alternatives to fossil fuels have to be found instead. Shell says it intends to invest heavily in low-carbon technologies and energy sources and has a plan to reach net-zero by 2050.

What was the Manchester protest and why was it held?

The green campaigners gathered outside the Shell petrol station on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme on Saturday 27 August.

It came at the end of a week of protests against Shell’s plans to drill in the new gas field which took place across the country.

The Government gave the go-ahead for gas extraction in the Jackdaw field in June, but Greenpeace has mounted a legal challenge against it.

There are also a further 39 oil and gas projects awaiting approval or funding.

Campaigners in Manchester stood outside the Rusholme petrol station with signs saying: “No New Oil” and “Stop Jackdaw”, while others bore messages about the contribution fossil fuels are making to climate change.

What has been said about the protest?

As well as the environmental impact of fossil fuels the campaigners spoke about the cost-of-living crisis and said allowing new oil and gas drilling would simply make fuel companies richer rather than bringing down spiralling bills for Greater Manchester residents.

Martin Porter from Manchester Greenpeace said: “We are in a cost-of-living crisis and a climate crisis. Shell has made £17 billion profit so far this year, whilst many people face not being able to pay their bill this winter.

“It’s not the cost of renewable energy that has gone up. Meanwhile, the world has had a summer of extreme weather due to climate change. Jackdaw will make Shell richer, but it won’t make people’s bills smaller. Insulating homes and investing in renewables will.

“If you’re in a hole you first stop digging, and if you’re in a climate emergency we need to stop looking for new fossil fuels and invest in clean energy and energy efficiency instead.

“These crises affect everyone, but they don’t affect everyone equally. It is people of colour in the UK who will disproportionally feel the cost of rising energy, whilst it is people of colour around the world who will suffer the effects of climate chaos. The current floods devastating Pakistan are proof of that.

“The people of Rusholme get this, and we had some great support from passers by during this protest. There is a real sense of anger across the country now at the obscene profits being generated by companies that rip off the consumer whilst destroying the environment, and with a government that allows this to happen.

“This may be the end of our week of action, but it will not be the end of protests.”

A Shell spokesperson said: “We agree that society needs to take urgent action on climate change. Shell has a clear target to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050.

“We are also deeply committed to the UK and are planning to invest between £20-25 billion in the UK energy system over the next decade - more than 75% of this will be in low and zero-carbon products and services, including offshore wind, hydrogen and electric mobility.”