EXPERTS warned the government today that fresh oil and gas drilling would send a “shock wave around the world” amid pressure to grant new licences.

The call comes as the ministers consider whether to grant licences to exploit the massive Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields and ahead of a crucial global climate summit in Colombia.

The Labour government has come under pressure from both the industry and Unite to allow new drilling to protect jobs, but ahead of the summit, they are facing calls to consider the wider signal new licences could send.

Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa think tank in Nairobi, warned: “Britain approving new oil and gas projects would send a shock wave around the world.

“I dread to think what example that would set to the rest of the world. Countries across Africa are being asked to leapfrog to clean energy systems, often with limited financial support.

“We are told, often by European nations, that the future lies in renewables and increasingly we are proving that it does.

“When wealthier nations continue to invest in fossil fuels, they undermine this message and diminish their credibility.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland oil and gas campaigns manager Rosie Hampton said: “Britain has the resources, skilled workforce, and the moral obligation to deliver a fast and fair transition away from oil and gas.

“This country made its wealth from extraction and colonialism and owes a duty to those people on the front line of climate breakdown to move as fast as possible to power our lives with renewables.

“The only way to reduce energy bills for the long term, create decent unionised jobs and put wealth back into communities is to build an energy system powered by renewables and run in the public interest.”

Echoing the sentiment, Scottish Green climate spokesman Patrick Harvie said: “We can’t drill our way out of sky-high energy prices or environmental destruction.

“Scotland has a huge wealth of clean energy sources on our doorstep.”

The government said has “put clean energy and climate at the heart of its agenda” including to stop issuing licences to explore new fields and in securing a just transition in the North Sea.