‘We can’t stop using fossil fuels overnight’, says climate transformation team

Natural gas will still play a role in the Island’s transition away from fossil fuels, according to politicians in the government’s climate emergency transformation team.

Ralph Peake MHK and Jane Poole-Wilson MLC spoke after government announced it’s seeking advice to ‘explore and exploit’ hydrocarbons from Manx territorial waters.

They’re part of a team civil servants and climate specialists making a climate action plan, to outline the ‘steps and targets’ for the Island to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

The group is led by distinguished climate scientist Professor James Curran, who’s due to produce an independent report for Tynwald by January 2020.

So far, the team has been bringing together global and local research to form the foundation of Professor Curran’s report.

In light of the commitment to explore a possible gas find, Leader of the Isle of Man Green Party Andrew Newton has called the team a ‘sideshow to government’s real intentions’.

Mr Peake and Mrs Poole-Wilson say it would be very difficult to stop using fossil fuels ‘overnight’, and there must be a period of transition towards renewable energy.