NICOLA STURGEON is letting “big corporations profit from dirty energy,” young campaigners said at the weekend as they confronted the First Minister in her Glasgow Southside constituency.

Scotland’s First Minister was cornered in Queen’s Park by young protesters from the Green New Deal Rising and the Stop Cambo campaign, who were protesting against new exploitation of the Cambo North Sea oilfield.

If given the go-ahead, the Cambo site could yield as many as 255 million barrels of oil over its lifetime, according to environmental campaigners.

Ms Sturgeon, who had been attending the Govanhill Carnival, was asked if she will oppose the oil field. She claimed it was not an issue for the Scottish government, but said there’s no doubt the country should be “moving away” and claimed ministers were trying to come to the right decision.  

Told by campaigner Lauren MacDonald that she was disappointed the First Minister would not commit to opposing the oilfield, Ms Sturgeon said she would listen to campaigners and she has a lot of sympathy with these issues, but she has to consider these “properly.” 

The Green New Deal Rising group — a movement of young people fighting to stop the climate crisis — later tweeted: “Big corporations profit from dirty energy and politicians like Nicola Sturgeon let them get away with it. We’re here to put a stop to that.”

Ms MacDonald said in the year of COP26 Ms Sturgeon and PM Boris Johnson have failed to take action to meet the commitments already set and called for a Green New Deal. 

She said: “The Scottish government can’t call itself a climate leader without opposing the Cambo oil field. How can we trust our governments to tackle the climate crisis when time and time again they refuse to take meaningful action to mitigate its effects?

“If we have any hope of mitigating the climate crisis and seeing a fairer society in Scotland, we need a just transition out of oil and gas immediately.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said it was wholly committed to becoming a net-zero economy by 2045 and any support for oil and gas businesses was conditional upon them contributing to a sustainable and inclusive energy transition.

She added: “The oil and gas sector can play a positive role in Scotland’s energy transition, helping to design the diverse energy system we need for the future.”