Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 34
34
Accepted
Sectoral involvement in drafting a deal of this nature is normal.
Conclusion
Sectoral involvement in drafting a deal of this nature is normal. It also makes sense for the industry to be involved in the monitoring and governance of a voluntary deal. However, we are concerned that the targets and accountability arrangements in the Deal are weak and lack the urgent and transformative action which the CCC says is required. In particular, there appear to be few sanctions available to the North Sea Transition Authority in the event that companies do not achieve the production emissions targets they have agreed to meet. (Paragraph 200) Accelerating the transition from fossil fuels and securing energy supplies 87
Government Response Summary
The government believes the current approach to targets and accountability arrangements in the North Sea Transition Deal is appropriate, citing a decline in upstream GHG emissions and actions taken by the NSTA to hold industry accountable.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
78. Government considers that the approach to targets and accountability arrangements in the Deal are right and good progress has been made thus far. The NSTA estimates that total upstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions declined by 14.6% in 2021, resulting in an estimated overall reduction relative to 2018 of 21.5%. 79. The North Sea Transition Authority holds industry to account by tracking and monitoring its emissions and compliance with the targets in the Deal. It drives reductions by robustly managing performance, including through the annual stewardship survey, monitoring and benchmarking, tier reviews and publishing new and updated guidance. The NSTA reports domestic production emission data via its annual Emissions Monitoring Report at an aggregated (basin-wide) level and has also recently published asset level domestic production emission information in publicly available dashboards [NSTA Emissions Monitoring Dashboard]. 80. In the first half of 2021, the NSTA started requiring licensees to implement emissions reduction plans for new and existing projects and introduced tough new guidance to drive down emissions from flaring and venting - the source of more than a fifth of sector emissions. The industry has committed to eliminating routine flaring and venting by 2030 at the latest, and has already made significant progress in reducing emissions-intensive production practices.