Trudeau suggests China uses slave labor in lithium production

Reuters | April 28, 2023 |

Justin Trudeau. (Image courtesy of Trudeau’s press team).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday suggested that China uses slave labor in the production of lithium as he discussed Canada’s efforts to ramp up production of the critical metal used in electric vehicle and other batteries.


Canada last fall announced a tougher policy on critical mineral investment – particularly from dominant producer China – as it worked to shore up its domestic supply of critical minerals after the global pandemic exposed supply chain problems that caused major production disruptions.

Canada has significant sources of lithium, Trudeau said, but China has made strategic choices over the decades that have made it by far the world’s largest producer of the lithium used in cell phones and electric vehicles.

“If we’re honest … the lithium produced in Canada is going to be more expensive. Because we don’t use slave labor,” Trudeau said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“Because we put forward environmental responsibility as something we actually expect to be abided by. Because we count on working with, in partnership with indigenous peoples, paying their living wages, expecting security and safety standards.”

A representative for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States has alleged use of forced labor by China in sectors including mining and construction. Last year, a US law took effect banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor.

Chinese firms own, operate or finance most of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt mines, the Labor Department said in a recent report. “Our research shows that lithium-ion batteries are produced with an input – cobalt – made by child labor,” it said.

In December, the United Auto Workers union called on automakers to shift their entire supply chain out of China’s Xinjiang region after a report by Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University suggested that nearly every major automaker has significant exposure to products made with forced labor.

China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world’s materials for solar panels.

Diplomatic tensions between Canada and China have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges.

In November, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian critical minerals, citing national security. China in response accused Ottawa of using national security as a pretext and said the divestment order broke international commerce and market rules.

(By Doina Chiacu and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Sharon Singleton)

Glencore deal for Teck would face stringent review, Trudeau says
Bloomberg News | April 28, 2023 |

Image: Screenshot from CPAC on Youtube

Teck Resources Ltd. is a “great company” that’s important to Canada’s economy, and any takeover bid for the miner will have to get through a “rigorous process” to win government approval, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.


The company’s tense fight with Glencore Plc is “certainly something that we’re looking very, very carefully at because it is important to have these great companies in Canada,” Trudeau said Friday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. He promised that, if the government is asked to approve a deal, it will be consistent in applying Canada’s takeover rules “so investors can know what they’re getting into.”

Teck has been trying to fend off an approach from Glencore Plc, but the Vancouver-based company suffered a setback this week when it couldn’t get enough shareholder support for its own plan to separate its metals and coal divisions.

“What’s more important to me is the company behaving the right way towards the environment, whether it’s a local company or a foreign multinational,” Trudeau said. “We have high and stringent expectations, not just on environmental issues but on partnership with indigenous peoples.”

The possibility of the Teck — Canada’s largest diversified base metals producer — being taken over by Glencore has become a broader political issue.

British Columbia Premier David Eby has weighed in against it. The federal government stopped short of that: In a letter to Vancouver’s board of trade this week, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada needs companies like Teck as part of its strategy to move toward cleaner forms of energy.

“The mining of critical minerals is key to the future — and only companies that make serious commitments to ESG and strong partnerships with Indigenous peoples will succeed,” Freeland wrote. “Rest assured that the federal government is following this very closely.”

Any acquisition of Teck would have to undergo a government review, with the final decision likely to fall on the desk of Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who signed Freeland’s letter with Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

Large-scale mining takeovers have been a sensitive topic in Canada ever since a wave of deals more than 15 years ago took out some of the sector’s biggest players, including nickel miner Inco Ltd. and aluminum producer Alcan Inc.

In 2010, when BHP Group proposed a takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the government of then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper blocked it on the grounds that it would not be of “net benefit” to the country.

(By Brian Platt and David Westin, with assistance from Randy Thanthong-Knight and Stephen Wicary)

Brazil’s Mura people report threats amid pressure to approve Amazon potash mine

Reuters | April 28, 2023 |

Image from Brazil Potash.

Leaders of Brazil’s Mura people said on Friday tensions have risen in the Autazes region where they live after a federal agency crew visited the area to discuss potentially demarcating their ancestral land, which overlaps with an area where a Canadian company wants to build a potash mine.


Speaking at a press conference hosted by federal prosecutors in the state of Amazonas, two Mura leaders said their communities have received renewed threats after Funai, the federal indigenous agency, visited the region in late March to start demarcation discussions of the Soares/Urucurituba territory, where Potassio do Brasil plans to build the $2.5 billion project.

Sergio, a Mura leader, said false information began to circulate after Funai showed up, including that the agency would “take away farmers’ land.” Sergio said Funai’s mission was only to explain a potential future demarcation, which is a long process. But the area is rife with conflict, with Amazonian tribes having suffered for decades with farmers’ encroaching on their reservations.

Brazil’s path to potash production in the Amazon

A second Mura leader, Adnelson, reported threats “before and after” Funai’s visit, including a note left at the local indigenous council saying, “Someone will suffer the consequences if Potassio’s mine does not happen.”

Potassio do Brasil, a unit of Toronto-based Brazil Potash, has previously denied any coercion and said it has followed the consultation protocol strictly. Regarding the allegations made by the Mura leaders during the press conference, the firm said it was encouraged by the federal prosecutor working on the case, “leaving no other alternative for the company but the tireless search for justice.”

Federal prosecutor Fernando Soave said ongoing court-supervised Mura consultations have not been “free” or “in good faith,” citing threats against the Mura since the company began trying to approve the mine project.

The prosecutor reiterated that the Mura consultations should be suspended because demarcation studies have not concluded. A court decision is pending regarding that request.

“When consultations started, chaos descended,” Soave said, adding he has contacted state protection services to act on behalf of the indigenous community.

Potassio do Brasil needs three years to build the installations for the mine and aimed to start potash production there in 2026.

(By Ana Mano; Editing by Josie Kao and Leslie Adler)

Tokamak Energy magnet technology to be tested in USA

28 April 2023

Tokamak Energy of the UK is to send its gamma radiation cryostat system to the US Department of Energy's Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so that it can be exposed to extreme conditions to test lifetime fusion power plant performance.

Tokamak Energy's HTS magnet (Image: Tokamak Energy)

The Oxfordshire-based company said that creating fusion energy requires strong magnetic fields to confine and control hydrogen fuel, which becomes a plasma several times hotter than the Sun inside a tokamak. Although most radiation from high-energy plasma neutrons will be absorbed by the tokamak's shielding, the magnets must be able to withstand secondary gamma rays to maintain efficient power plant operations.

Tokamak Energy built and commissioned its specialist gamma radiation cryostat system - a vacuum device to provide thermal insulation for the magnets - as part of its mission to deliver fusion power in the 2030s.

It said that test system will now be disassembled, shipped and rebuilt at the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) based at Sandia Laboratories, which is one of the few places in the world capable of housing the system while exposing Tokamak Energy's high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets to a power plant representative dose rates - sufficient in intensity and energy - of gamma radiation.

Research and analysis on sets of individual magnets will run for six months at the New Mexico facility, which is so powerful it can do a 60-year lifetime test in just two weeks.

"Our pioneering magnet technology must withstand extreme conditions to keep fusion power plants running in the future," said Rod Bateman, HTS Magnet Development Manager at Tokamak Energy. "The specialist Sandia Laboratory is ideally configured to test magnet durability and performance when exposed to gamma radiation. It is essential to push the boundaries now as we scale up our operations towards commercial fusion."

Don Hanson, GIF Facility Supervisor at Sandia National Laboratory, added: "The GIF is a unique facility that can provide high doses of gamma radiation to large test objects. We look forward to working with Tokamak Energy to advance fusion technologies."

In February, Tokamak Energy announced it had built a world-first set of new generation HTS magnets to be assembled and tested in fusion power plant-relevant scenarios. Its new Demo4 facility consists of 44 individual magnetic coils manufactured using 38 kilometres of ground-breaking HTS tape, which carries currents with zero electrical resistance and requires five times less cooling power than traditional superconducting materials.

The HTS tapes are multi-layered conductors made mostly of strong and conductive metals, but with a crucial internal coating of 'rare earth barium copper oxide' (REBCO) superconducting material. The tapes are typically 12mm wide and less than 0.1 mm thick, with REBCO deposited as a thin coating. When wound into coils, HTS tapes can generate much higher magnetic fields than conventional superconducting magnets, while taking up far less space and requiring far less cooling power.

Tokamak Energy's roadmap is for commercial fusion power plants deployed in the mid-2030s. To get there the plan is for completion of ST80-HTS in 2026 "to demonstrate the full potential of high temperature superconducting magnets" and to inform the design of its fusion pilot plant, ST-E1, which is slated to demonstrate the capability to deliver electricity - producing up to 200 MW of net electrical power - in the early 2030s.

In January, Tokamak said it had signed an agreement with Japan's Furukawa Electric to supply "several hundred kilometres" of HTS tape for its ST80-HTS prototype fusion device. The HTS tape has been developed and is being supplied by Furukawa, with the production of the tape under way at the group's SuperPower Inc's site in New York in the USA.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Uranium miner Cameco reports Q1 profit nearly triples, revenue up more than 70%

The Canadian Pres

Cameco Corp. reported its first-quarter profit more than doubled compared with a year ago, while its revenue rose more than 70 per cent, helped by higher deliveries an higher average realized prices in both its uranium and fuel services businesses.

The uranium miner also raised its revenue outlook for the full year to between $2.22 billion and $2.37 billion compared with its earlier expectations for between $2.12 billion and $2.27 billion.

Cameco says its profit amounted to $119 million or 27 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from $40 million or 10 cents per diluted share a year ago.

Revenue totalled $687 million, up from $398 million in the first three months of 2022.

On an adjusted basis, Cameco says its profit amounted to 27 cents per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of four cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of 25 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.

Canada won new Volkswagen battery plant despite 'way, way more' money from U.S.: PM

James McCarten, The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a number of U.S. jurisdictions outbid Canada in the recent race to secure Volkswagen's new battery plant. 

But Canada prevailed, he says, because of its clean energy supply, educated workforce, critical minerals riches and investments in the middle class.

Trudeau made the admission in remarks today at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. 

The plant, to be built near St. Thomas, Ont., is drawing some criticism because Ottawa offered up to $13 billion worth of production subsidies to make the deal happen. 

Trudeau says the economic and social benefits of the facility will vastly outweigh the cost because Volkswagen is committed to be a major employer in the hard-hit manufacturing community for decades. 

It was part of his sales pitch to convince investors, business leaders and venture capitalists in New York and around the world that Canada has a firm grip on the future. 

"I'll be honest: there were places in the United States that were putting up way, way more money than we put on the table," Trudeau said. 

But Canada's clean energy supply, robust social services, environmental standards and mineral riches ultimately helped to win the day, he said. 

"Volkswagen said, 'OK, we're showing up with a plant that's not going to be there for five years, or 10 years. It's going to be there for 50 years, maybe even more,'" Trudeau said. 

"'We need to invest in a community that is going to be invested in itself and in that future.'"

The idea for the New York trip, which wraps up Friday, was to capitalize on the momentum that was generated by last month's visit to Ottawa by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The centrepiece of those meetings was a new Canada-U.S. strategy for the extraction, development and processing of critical minerals. 

As the Canadian government works to develop that industry, democracies must work together to protect their values and economic interests in the face of rising authoritarianism, Trudeau said Friday.

It's important, he said, to build democratic values into decisions about where to source minerals, and it's not just about telling companies not to get them from countries such as China.

"We should simply commit to sourcing our critical minerals from places that ban forced labour, that have safety standards, that pay their workers a living wage, that have high environmental protections, that work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples." 

Experts say would-be investors and developers now want to hear more about how Canada plans to streamline the regulatory process in order to capitalize on the country's underground riches. 

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's envoy to the U.S., acknowledges the appetite for clarity and says it's a high priority — although the details likely won't come today. 

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Canada's permitting processes are actually more efficient than those in the U.S., although she agrees they need improvement. 

"I'm not saying it's good enough. And I'm not saying we don't want to continue to streamline and improve," Hillman said Thursday. 

"But we already have a natural advantage there, and we'll continue to improve it." 

Trudeau spent the bulk of the day Thursday focused on promoting efforts to advance sustainable development outside North America, in particular the global South. 

And he got a rough ride at a global summit of progressive thinkers when former CTV National News anchor Lisa LaFlamme pressed him on recent cuts to humanitarian aid spending. 

Before 2019, the Liberal government in Ottawa committed to making steady annual increases in aid, "and we absolutely have," Trudeau responded.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and other crises around the world, including in Afghanistan, resulted in outsized one-time spikes in spending, he said. 

And while there's likely to be more humanitarian disasters before the end of the fiscal year that will demand Canada make additional commitments, "the baseline continues to go (up)," Trudeau said.

"We spiked it massively because of the pandemic, because of various crises that we had to respond to." 

The appearance was meant to showcase a new five-year, $195-million investment — plus $43 million every subsequent year — in women's rights advocacy around the world. 

Trudeau said the program, Women's Voice and Leadership, has helped more than 1,500 organizations since it was launched in 2017, far exceeding the original target of 400 groups, who receive the assistance without strings. 

"We know that these kinds of initiatives — defending women's rights from that grassroots community level, led by women, impacting other women — is one of the most powerful ways of effecting change."

Abortion rights have been under legal siege in recent months in the U.S., Trudeau acknowledged as he seized on the opportunity to depict his government as pro-choice — and its Conservative rivals as the opposite. 

The U.S. courts have played host to seismic shifts in access to abortion over the last year, most notably the Supreme Court's decision last June to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established federal abortion rights. 

Advocates had feared that a legal stalemate over access to the so-called abortion pill, mifepristone, would end much the same way, before the high court opted late last week to maintain the status quo — for the time being. 

The U.S. Department of Justice is fighting a Texas court decision that, if allowed to stand, would effectively rescind the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year-old approval of the drug. 

"Oh my God, when do we get to stop having to re-litigate this every, every time," Trudeau said as he characterized his reaction to the latest ruling. 

"Women are still having to stand up for basic rights that should have been and have been recognized long ago." 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.

Indigenous investment firm and CMHC announce pilot project to fund home construction

BNN Bloomberg

An Indigenous-owned investment firm is partnering with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to build several hundred homes for Indigenous communities. 

Keewaywin Capital Inc. announced Tuesday that it anticipates building between 150 and 225 homes in the first year of the Accelerated Construction Pilot Project.

In a release Tuesday, the firm says it anticipates funding between 330 and 500 homes throughout the entire life cycle of the pilot project. 

The project will see Keewaywin provide short-term construction loans to Indigenous communities, while CMHC will provide program coordination and support to the communities. 

Keewaywin says it hopes to raise an initial $100 million for the pilot project and other housing projects in Indigenous communities. 

Statistics Canada says in 2021, more than one in six Indigenous people lived in crowded housing, while more than 16 per cent lived in a dwelling that needed major repairs.

Keewaywin says the project is an important step to demonstrate that private credit can be a viable and low-risk way to loan money to Indigenous communities without relying solely on government funding. 

It says loans from financial institutions are often not readily accessible to Indigenous communities without government involvement or backing. 

If successful, the firm says this pilot project could serve as a model for future projects. 

“This project is just the beginning of what I know can be a generational shift in how Indigenous-backed financing and business acumen are used to create wealth, while also lifting up our Indigenous communities,” said Keewaywin president and CEO Tracee Smith in the press release.

Smith, who is from Missanabie Cree First Nation in Ontario, developed and proposed the pilot project. 

“Together with CMHC, I believe we have developed a financing model to inspire other Indigenous innovators and business leaders to put their ideas forward,” she said. 

CMHC president and CEO Romy Bowers said in the release that Canada is facing a housing shortage, particularly in Indigenous communities. 

“We are exploring innovative partnership models and are excited to support the Accelerated Construction Pilot Project led by Keewaywin to help us get more people homes more quickly,” said Bowers. “As the project evolves, we hope to grow our partnership with Keewaywin Capital and explore other partnerships to support our strategic goals.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.

 

To Understand Hurricanes of the Future, USGS Looks for Answers in Sand

Sediment core showing storm deposits. This example of a core was collected from the Dominican Republic. (File image courtesy Kristen Steele, USGS)

PUBLISHED APR 27, 2023 9:10 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

To get a better perspective on the storms of the future, the U.S. Geological Survey is studying evidence of past hurricanes in buried sediments in the Florida Panhandle. 

Hundreds of years ago, local climate conditions in the Gulf of Mexico were similar to what they are now - and what they likely will be in a few decades. USGS scientists believe that the signs of past storms from this time period can help extend the historical record of extreme weather in the region, improving modeling and predictions of future storm activity as the climate warms again. 

The data suggests that the existing records of storms - which date back only to the mid-1800s - may not fully capture the risk of high-powered hurricanes during warm periods in the local climate. 

“Most existing records on hurricanes that are used to help forecast storms date back to 1851, which is just over 170 years ago, and our research is looking beyond that by several thousands of years,” said USGS research geologist Jessica Rodysill. “We are collecting sediment from below the Earth’s surface and analyzing those samples to learn about hurricane occurrence over a long period.”

Specifically, the team collected sediment samples from two sites in coastal Florida, a bit inland from the shore. The soil at these sites is mostly fine sediment, punctuated by periodic layers of sand deposits. The sand represents incidents of heavy flooding from the arrival of a hurricane. The age, type, quantity and thickness of the sand deposit gives clues about the intensity of the storm. 

Based on the geological record, the odds of a major storm may be higher during periods when the local climate is warmer. The evidence in the cores suggests that there were several previously unknown Category 4-5 hurricanes during a period from 800-1,400 years ago, when sea surface temperatures were higher in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. Before the study, the only known Category 4 or 5 hurricane to ever make landfall in the area was Hurricane Michael, which struck Panama City in 2018. 

Computerized climate models predict that hurricane activity could increase in the Gulf of Mexico as ocean temperatures warm in the decade ahead, and USGS believes that the new study supports this prediction - though other physical oceanographic factors will also play a role. 

 

Iceland Allows Resupply Call for U.S. Nuclear Sub for the First Time

Courtesy U.S. Embassy in Iceland

PUBLISHED APR 27, 2023 11:45 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS San Juan has become the first U.S nuclear-powered ship to sail into Iceland’s territorial waters after the Nordic nation temporarily waived a longtime ban.

U.S. Sixth Fleet announced that the submarine made a brief stop for supplies and personnel off Iceland’s west coast while operating in the High North on April 26. It said that the visit is part of an effort to increase regional maritime domain awareness and the safety of underwater infrastructure, such as submarine cables. More importantly, it paves the way for future stops as needed.

The submarine’s stopover in Iceland came a week after the nation’s government said it will authorize U.S nuclear-powered submarines to make brief service visits off its coast. This marks the first time ever Iceland has allowed U.S nuclear powered submarines in its territorial waters.

“We thank our Icelandic allies for allowing San Juan to conduct this brief stop for supplies and personnel in Icelandic waters,” said Capt. John Craddock, Commander Task Force 69.

He added that the visit demonstrates the strength of the Iceland-U.S. strategic relationship and the two nations mutual commitment to maritime domain awareness and increased response capabilities in the Arctic and North Atlantic. “The ability to conduct these stops out of Iceland greatly increases our operational flexibility in the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. Gap.”

In allowing the visit, Iceland Foreign Ministry emphasized that the submarine will be serviced a few kilometers off the coast, will not carry nuclear weapons and will not make port calls.

“It is a condition for the arrival of allied warships in the country that the governments of the respective countries both know and respect the provisions of Iceland’s national security policy that Iceland, and its territorial waters are declared free from nuclear weapons,” said Iceland Foreign Ministry in a statement.

While the country has given the nod for the first access to its waters, it has maintained that any frequency of visits will depend on the need at any given time.

Though its neighboring NATO members have always allowed allied nuclear-powered submarines to sail into their territorial waters, Iceland has maintained a tough stance against any visits owing to its uncompromising opposition to nuclear energy and weapons.

Iceland is softening its tough stance while hosting Dynamic Mongoose 2023, a large-scale anti-submarine warfare exercise that started in the North Atlantic on April 24 and runs through May 5. A total of 15 warships from 10 allied nations are participating in the exercise.

The security situation in the North Atlantic area has become a top priority for Iceland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The waters around Iceland are a strategic zone for submarine activity, particularly Russian Navy subs coming from the Barents Sea.

Iceland is also a hub for several subsea telecom cables, and the security of subsea infrastructure is at top of mind for NATO. Just last week, a joint report by public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden revealed that Russia has deployed a covert fleet of trawlers and research ships to identify vulnerabilities in the subsea cable network off the coasts of NATO nations. The report detailed a large-scale surveillance operation targeting key communications and electrical transmission infrastructure in the Baltic, the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. 

Concerns that Russia is planning to sabotage critical infrastructures have seen Iceland deepen its bilateral cooperation with the U.S, with the two countries annual Strategic Dialogue taking place in Washington last week. Iceland, with a population of 370,000, does not have an army and only operates a coastguard unit. The country also has an air defense and surveillance system that is integrated into NATO.

Greenpeace Wins Court Approval for Lawsuit Against UK E&P Leasing

© Tom Gibbs / Greenpeace

PUBLISHED APR 26, 2023 7:03 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A UK court has allowed Greenpeace to proceed with a judicial review of a planned auction round for North Sea oil and gas leasing, the environmental group announced Wednesday. The approval is the first step in the British legal process for a lawsuit challenging a government decision. 

In December, Greenpeace UK filed a lawsuit with the London High Court in an attempt to reverse government plans to issue up to 130 new E&P licenses in the UK North Sea. By law, the government is required to perform an environmental assessment before issuing new licenses; Greenpeace contends that it shortchanged the review process by ignoring emissions that would be generated downstream by burning the oil and gas extracted from the lease blocks. Instead, according to the advocacy group, the government based its environmental impact assessment solely on emissions from production - a segment which accounts for only 20 percent of the total lifecycle emissions profile of the projects. 

On Wednesday, the High Court granted permission for Greenpeace to pursue a full judicial review of the government’s decision to omit the effects of combusting the oil and gas that would be extracted in the new licensing round. 

“This verdict is the first real setback for the government’s reckless oil and gas licensing round. Ministers will now be forced to justify in front of a judge why they want to unleash a new drilling frenzy in the North Sea against the advice of leading scientists and the UN chief, without assessing the climate impact," said Philip Evans, Greenpeace UK's climate campaign chief. 

Friends of the Earth and Uplift have filed similar lawsuits. 

The UK government began a course change on oil and gas in the spring of 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent prices soaring. The administration of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a "new lease of life" for offshore E&P, with a particular eye towards substituting imported LNG with domestically-produced natural gas.  An estimated 560 billion cubic meters of gas remains in the UK North Sea, and the government announced plans to actively support its use. Planned support measures included an offshore licensing round; an accelerated permitting process to "take years off the development" for new offshore projects; and investing in carbon-capture clusters to offset the climate impact of the activity. 

The prime minister has changed twice since Johnson's announcement, but the commitment to leasing remains. Under current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the North Sea Transition Authority held a massive lease round on January 15, receiving 115 bids for more than 250 lease blocks. 

In addition to its direct climate impact, accelerated oil and gas development could have unintended negative effects for the UK's ambitious offshore wind plans, according to Andrew Reid of the Institute for Energy Economics and Analysis. "About 40% of the oil and gas supply chain has synergies with offshore wind. Both rely on a limited pool of available ports, vessels, and personnel. Stimulating both sectors at the same time will create competition between increasingly scarce resources, limiting availability and driving up costs," he warned in a recent analysis.