Five former UK and Scottish government ministers have urged support for the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The cross-party quintet signed an "unprecedented" declaration in Aberdeen yesterday aimed at tackling "incorrect" and "damaging" views that renewables and the oil & gas sector were in opposition.
Ex-Scottish energy minister and current SNP MSP Fergus Ewing and Amber Rudd, the former Conservative UK energy secretary put pen to paper at the event, organised by trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK).
They were joined by Liberal Democrat MP and former Scottish secretary Alistair Carmichael, along with former UK energy ministers Charles Hendry (Conservative) and Brian Wilson (Labour).
The group called for an end to "polarised" views that North Sea oil and gas and net-zero goals are irreconcilable, as well as support for the sector in the energy transition.
Mr Ewing told Energy Voice that the skills and resources of oil and gas were crucial to emissions-busting technology like carbon capture and storage.
Polarised view
Mr Wilson said that the cross-party declaration was aimed at tackling incorrect and damaging views that renewables and the North Sea oil & gas sector were in opposition.
He added: "The consequence of taking the polarised view is one that we destroy jobs, we destroy businesses and we destroy opportunities in the world to be a leader, and at the same time, crazily, become more dependent on imports."
Ms Rudd added: "There are all sorts of new technologies as part of the transition agreement that can be harnessed and are being harnessed, with proper investment in order to do that.
"It's not - it never should be - one or the other. We need the support for the oil and gas industry to deliver on that transition, and we need to acknowledge that and work together."
The Scottish Government, led by the SNP-Green alliance, is due to publish a revamped energy strategy in the autumn.
Yesterday's oil and gas declaration makes a series of asks, including support for the industry as it goes through the "just transition" in alignment with the North Sea Transition Deal signed last year, setting a net-zero target of 2050 for the industry.
Thriving oil and gas sector
Asked whether the politicians were seeking support for 30 more years of oil and gas, Mr Ewing said: "In order to achieve net-zero, we have to have a thriving oil and gas sector.".
He pointed to higher imports of liquefied natural gas and other impacts if North Sea production is ramped down."
The MSP for Inverness and Nairn added: "If we stop producing gas here, our carbon footprint as a country becomes far greater.
"If that is true, as no one has disputed, the only sensible thing to do is to carry on with our production."
OEUK chief executive Deirdre Michie said the declaration was "music to our ears" for the industry, but the windfall tax announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month had undermined investment.
Monday's declaration follows action by climate-change protesters, who are demanding that ministers block new oil and gas fields.
Energy security a priority
A spokeswoman for the UK Government told the Times: "The Government has repeatedly said that energy security is our ultimate priority, including supporting the oil and gas sector and its transition.
"This is why the British energy security strategy sets out how we will accelerate security of supply through cheap renewables, betting big on new nuclear and maximising domestic production of gas in the North Sea.
"Through our landmark North Sea Transition Deal we are backing the decarbonisation of the oil and gas industry while supporting tens of thousands of jobs across Scotland and the wider UK, ensuring high-skilled workers are not left behind."
But a Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government's position is clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations, a position supported by the UK and Scottish governments' statutory advisers on climate change.
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest reports show that the impacts of climate change are even worse than previously thought and that business as usual is not an option.
"We are equally clear that the oil and gas sector plays an important role in our economy and that a bright future lies ahead for a revitalised North Sea in supporting a net-zero energy system.
"Our oil and gas infrastructure and highly-skilled workforce have long been at the forefront of energy innovation. That is why we are committed to a just transition that supports those currently employed in oil and gas to capitalise on the employment opportunities of net-zero energy."