Good morning. After weeks of speculation, the secretary of state for energy and net zero, Miatta Fahnbulleh, approved drilling in the Jackdaw gasfield this morning. In a statement, published a few minutes before today’s First Edition, Fahnbulleh stressed that the government remains “resolute” in achieving net zero by 2050. It has also announced a new wealth fund that will invest tax revenues from North Sea oil and gas into low-carbon projects.
Even so, Fahnbulleh’s decision will be a monumental disappointment for climate campaigners (and I’d bet many readers of First Edition, too). So this morning’s newsletter is about two things: why the government approved Jackdaw, despite all of the arguments marshalled against it, and, in an attempt to strike a more hopeful note, what it can do to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels. That’s after the headlines.
