The Isle of Man Green Party is calling for the government to end the licence to search for oil and gas in Manx territorial waters.

In a letter to the chief minister on December 14, 2021, the Green Party asked that the Department of Infrastructure allow the licence held on this project by Crogga, a local energy company, to expire.

Since then, the government has decided to extend the licence, allowing the project to continue for another four months, which caused the Green Party to write to Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall on January 4, 2022 requesting the DoI to withdraw the licence.

It asked for an explanation of why the extension was granted and for confirmation of ’the weight (if any) that was placed on the content of [its] previous letter’.

In a statement, the Green Party said: ’Given the promises of action that emanated from the members of this government in the 2021 election, the Green Party hopes that the government will now take decisive action to end the licence in its entirety upon the expiry of the extension, and immediately commence the much needed investment in renewable energy.’

In its letter the Green Party detailed its reasons why the licence shouldn’t be extended.

It noted the government’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions since it was given UNESCO Biosphere status in 2016 and the fact that Tynwald declared a climate emergency in 2019.

One of its main points however was that of the carbon budget.

This is a measure of how much greenhouse gas can be released before global average increases in temperature are reached that will cause climactic changes that will impact the island.

The Isle of Man’s share of the global carbon budget to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius was calculated as 4,328,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from January 1, 2020.

The island releases ’in the region of 728,000 tonnes of carbon dixide a year’ and so unless we commence ’immediate’ reductions in our annual emissions, the Isle of Man ’will exhaust its entire carbon budget to avoid 1.5 degrees celsius of warming by the year 2026’.

The Green Party said: ’The government should be introducing policies to reduce its use in order to protect our island community.’

The DoI responded to this and said: ’The Minister welcomes the contribution provided by the Green Party in relation to this important matter. A response to their letter is being finalised and will be sent shortly.’

Tim Crookall previously spoke in the House of Keys on this matter when the decision was still being made.

He said: ’[Crogga] want to know what’s down there, see what the value is and what the potential is for the Isle of Man. We know that gas is going to be a transition fuel for the next 20/25 years, we need to know what’s best for the island and the environment.

’If we were going to start extracting gas locally, that would be better than getting it from Norway or Russia.’