CLIMATE campaigners have demanded the government “do the right thing” and block plans to exploit Britain’s largest untapped oil field at Rosebank.

Drilling the 300-billion-barrel field 80 miles to the west of Shetland had been given the green light by the Tories in 2023, only for it to be overturned in Scotland’s highest court, the Court of Session, on the basis of a Supreme Court ruling that emissions generated by the burning of fuels extracted throughout the lifetime of a field must be considered before it is licensed.

But Norwegian state-owned oil giant Equinor — which owns an 80 per cent stake in the field — say it remains “fully committed to working closely with all relevant stakeholders to advance the Rosebank project” and has submitted the emissions assessments in a bid to get drilling underway.

Tess Khan at Uplift warned the fresh attempt to open the field for business represents the “defining test of this government’s credibility on climate change.”

She said: “This enormous oil field is not consistent with the UK’s climate commitments. The world already has so much more oil than is safe to burn.

“The government must stick to its word and invest in clean energy, which is powering growth, and stop propping up an industry that is now only viable with massive state support.

“It must not allow a declining oil and gas industry, or its cheerleaders in politics, to dictate UK energy policy. This Labour government must do the right thing and reject Rosebank.”

Turning up the temperature on ministers ahead of a decision, campaigners at Fossil Free London will protest outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on Saturday, ramping it up to a daily protest from Monday October 20.

Fossil Free London’s Robin Wells said: “As wildfires blazed and people baked in their homes this year, we are staring down the barrel of climate collapse that could cost billions of lives.

“Any government that chooses to extract more oil and gas rather than protect its citizens from this threat is a government that has abandoned us for short-term profits. 

“Our message to Starmer, Reeves and Miliband is definitive: for the UK people, for the world — stop Rosebank.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are unable to comment on individual projects.”