On 10 November 2023, the Isle of Man Green Party wrote (see HERE) to the Minister for Infrastructure, Minister Crookall MHK, requesting clarification on how the Department of Infrastructure’s (“DOI”) proposal to vary the licence granted to Crogga to explore for gas in the Isle of Man seabed, would comply with the DOI’s climate change obligations.
In the Green Party’s view, the most important of these questions were how the variation of Crogga’s licence would comply with;
i. attaining the goals of the 2016 Paris Agreement (now extended to the Isle of Man);
ii. the Isle of Man Government’s Climate Emergency Declaration
The Minister’s Response
Minister Crookall’s response by letter dated 8 January 2024 can be found HERE. The Minister’s letter refers to a previous letter to the Green Party from the then Minister for Infrastructure, Mr Thomas MHK, in 2022 following a previous variation to Crogga’s licence in 2022 (see HERE).
The Isle of Man Green Party finds Minister Crookall’s response deeply disappointing in various key respects.
Firstly, the response states that “the Provisions of the Climate Change Act 2021 do not preclude hydrocarbon exploration”.
Secondly, in response to our (unstated) view that new gas infrastructure cannot possibly be in accordance with meeting the Paris Agreement goals, the Minister cites the UK Climate Change Commission. The citation quoted in the response quite clearly states that “the extra oil and gas extracted will support a larger global market overall”. The Minister’s reason for citing this is unclear, but it appears to have been made in order to argue that new infrastructure is not contrary to the Paris Agreement. It also states that “the Paris Agreement does not directly preclude hydrocarbon exploration”.
Following the hottest year on record in 2023, the Green Party’s view is that this is a deliberate attempt to cite technicalities in wilful ignorance of the spirit of the Paris Agreement and turning a blind eye to the threat of extreme climate change to our island. It also completely ignores the fact whilst the 2016 Paris Agreement may not have directly precluded hydrocarbon exploration, 8 years later, the United Nations IPPC have clearly, unequivocally and unarguably stated that new fossil fuel infrastructure is incompatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement (see HERE).
Our near neighbours the Republic of Ireland have recognised this, banning all new fossil fuel infrastructure in 2022.
The Green Party calls upon the elected representatives of the Isle of Man to publicly acknowledge that new fossil fuel infrastructure is not compatible with the Paris Agreement or the principles of the Climate Change Act and Climate Emergency Declaration. We must stop this myopic pursuit of new fossil fuels in order to attempt to enrich Crogga and ourselves at the expense of entrenching humanity’s current course towards an unliveable planet.
The Will of Tynwald
In light of the Minister’s response, the Green Party wrote again to the Minister in reply on 06 February 2024 (see HERE). The Green Party’s letter concentrates on the matter of the resolved will of Tynwald and that the proposed variation to Crogga’s gas licence would be an affront to that stated will.
At a sitting of Tynwald on 20 July 2022, a motion was brought by Ms Faragher MHK, leader of the Manx Labour Party, to stop fossil fuel extraction from the Isle of Man seabed. The resolution was amended (by Chief Minister Cannan MHK) and agreed as a resolution of Tynwald that:
“Government policy should be that no new licences are issued for the extraction of hydrocarbon in Manx territorial waters”
In the Green Party’s eyes, the proposed variation of Crogga’s licence to explore for fossil fuels would appear to mean (from the limited information available) that the varied licence would:
i. fall outside of the standard / pro forma exploration licence under the UK Guidance and be contrary to industry good practice; and,
ii. erode environmental protections by transferring the “Post 3D Survey Environmental Summary Report” until after drilling a well.
The Green Party is of the view that the proposed variation would so materially and significantly change the terms of the current licence, that it could not be said to be a mere variation of the existing licence but would represent the recission of that licence and the issuing of a new, materially different licence, contrary to the July 2022 resolution of Tynwald.
The Green Party notes that the policy of the DOI should properly be subject to the will of Tynwald. In a unanimous resolution of the Tynwald Court of 19 February 2004, it was resolved that:
“Tynwald declares that a resolution of the Court on any matter related to Isle of Man Government policy supersedes or supplements any previous resolution on the same matter and Government must respond positively to such resolutions”
In such circumstances, the Green Party has requested that Minister Crookall MHK confirms by return that the DOI will respect the will of Tynwald and not agree to the request by Crogga to vary the exploration licence.
Further information can be found on the Party’s website www.greenparty.im and via email at committee@greenparty.im.