S4F submits "zienswijze" North Sea drilling

Dutch oil and gas company ONE Dyas has submitted a permit request for new gas drilling in the North Sea, specifically the area of the unique natural reef Borkum Stones in sector N04, north of Schiermonnikoog. On the German side of the border, this is a Natura2000 area. In The Netherlands, the process to make it a Natura2000 area is restarting thanks to a recent court ruling.

Scientists for Future have spoken out against new gas drilling in the North Sea since 2022 (see press release). For this new permit request, the proposed criteria for the environmental impact assessment were open for for public consultation. In these criteria, the impact on climate change was absent and several potential environmental effects, such as the cumulative effects of the pollution caused by the new gas drilling on top of the already poor state of the North Sea, were missing. We therefore submitted a "zienswijze" (a statement of our views) to ask inclusion of these criteria.