The Cure, Massive Attack, Lola Young and more urge Keir Starmer to stop development of Rosebank Oil Field
Exclusive: A stellar group of musicians have come together to sign Brian Eno's new open letter to the government.
The Cure’s Robert Smith, Lola Young, and Massive Attack and members of Radiohead are among a stellar group of musicians who have written to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the UK government to block the development of a controversial oil field.
The open letter, written by Brian Eno, calls on the Prime Minister to block the proposed use of Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field located some 80 miles off the coast of Shetland.
The letter is also signed by the likes of Lola Young, BICEP and Olly Alexander. It asks decision makers to reject the development of the major fossil fuel project, saying giving it the go-ahead would be damaging for people, the planet and the future of music and the arts. Other major signatories outside of music include the Academy Award winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold.
Following a request for comment from Rolling Stone UK, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs.”
The appeal from this collective of leading musicians comes as Equinor – the Norwegian state-owned oil company – reportedly prepares to reapply for permission to develop the site.
Eno’s letter, also supported by artists such as SHERELLE, The Blessed Madonna and Paloma Faith, says permitting the project would be in direct opposition to the promises the UK government have made on people, pollution and climate change.
“Continued oil and gas expansion jeopardises not only our climate, but the cultural spaces where music is made and shared,” it reads. “The scientific evidence that new oil and gas projects are incompatible with a liveable climate is overwhelming.”
The letter says Rosebank would emit more of the planet-heating gas carbon dioxide than the world’s 28 lowest-income countries combined in a single year.
The burning of fossil fuels – such as oil, gas and coal – is increasing the average temperature on Earth. The result is a changing climate where extreme weather like heat and rainfall become more frequent and intense.
Music, like all parts of our societies, is increasingly feeling the effects of this – earlier this year Bonnaroo Festival was cancelled due to severe flooding, and thousands of people in Los Angeles’ music community were among those left devastated by wildfires in January.
Rosebank has long been controversial, the subject of commercial, political and legal arguments for more than two decades.
After years of wrangling the project was given the go-ahead by the UK government, led by the Conservative party, in 2023. The decision was met with significant opposition from campaign groups.
At the beginning of 2025 a Scottish court ruled that the government’s approval of the Rosebank oil field was unlawful, because of the way its potential impact had been calculated. The UK government agreed to restart the approval process, based on fresh conditions.
Dear Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband
We are writing to welcome the government’s recently published guidelines for new oil and gas projects, which offer a credible approach to assessing scope 3 emissions. This allows the UK government, for the first time, to assess the full climate damage from potential new developments.
As musicians and artists, we know that our creativity is rooted in the world around us. But that world is under threat. Festivals are being cancelled due to extreme weather, and grassroots venues are grappling with rising energy costs. Continued oil and gas expansion jeopardises not only our climate, but the cultural spaces where music is made and shared, the natural landscapes that inspire creativity, and the livelihoods of artists and those who support them.
The significant harm that will result from new oil and gas projects must be taken seriously, as should the economic impacts of climate change and the negligible role that new UK oil fields would play in providing the UK with reliable energy supplies.
The climate pollution from burning Rosebank’s 500 million barrels of oil and gas is incompatible with safe climate limits, and any new application to exploit Rosebank’s reserves must be refused.The most immediate impacts of Rosebank would be felt by nature- Rosebank’s development would cause direct damage to fragile habitats in the North Sea, with pollution and noise impacting our ocean life.
Any new oil and gas fields in the UK would also be at odds with the Government’s clean energy and health missions and its commitment to deliver clean power by 2030. The scientific evidence that new oil and gas projects are incompatible with a liveable climate is overwhelming.
Rejecting the Rosebank oil field would be a vital step towards climate justice. The lifetime emissions from Rosebank alone would exceed the annual CO2 emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined. Communities who have contributed least to the climate crisis, both historically and today, are bearing its most severe impacts: from rising sea levels and extreme heat to flooding, storms, and food insecurity.
The UK public would carry almost all the costs (around 90%) of developing Rosebank if approved. Thanks to the former government’s oil and gas subsidies, the UK public would hand over billions in tax breaks to Equinor to develop the field while Equinor – which made £62 billion in profits globally in 2022 and £29 billion in 2023 – takes the profit.
We urgently need to phase out oil and gas drilling. At such a critical time, and when the impacts of climate change are being felt here and around the world, the UK government must not knowingly breach its international climate commitments. Now, more than ever, it must honor them and lead others to do the same.
We urge the government to reject new oil and gas projects, including the Rosebank field. A rejection of Rosebank would signal the government’s serious commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Eno, Co-Founder, EarthPercent
Abigail Norris, Francis Alicia, Gordon Marcus Lyon
Adah Parris, Gavin Turk Mari
Alexis Bamforth,Greg Dixon, Matt Black
Alexis Taylor,HAAi,Michael Hrebeniak
Alison Cotton, Hannah Lowe, Midland
Andrea Arnold OBE, Hannah Marshall,Mike Smith
Andy Franzkowiak, Helen Ganya, Morgan Szymanski
Andy Sewell, Hiroki Shirasuka, Moxie
Anna Calvi,Ian Bruce,Mr Emre Ramazanoglu
Anna Daly Edgington, Ilā kamalagharan, Naia Bautista
Antoine Cotton, Imogen Heap, Neil Griffiths
April De Angelis,Isa Suarez,Nicholas Donovan
Berne, Jack Chown, Nicholas Royle
Bicep, Jackson Harms, Nick Carlisle
BISHI, Jacob Collier, Olly Alexander
Brian d’Souza, Jamie McCormick, Other Lands
Candida Doyle,Jan Woolf, Paloma Faith
Brian Eno, and many of the letters’ other signatories, have long been against the extraction of new oil and gas.
In an additional comment to the letter, the iconic musician and producer said: “Fossil fuels are not only unsustainable – they are actively destructive. The evidence is clear: burning them accelerates the climate crisis, endangers our futures, and undermines the UK’s credibility as a climate leader.
“The Prime Minister must listen – reject Rosebank, and stop approving new oil and gas developments.”
Eno co-founded the charity Earth/Percent in 2021, which directs funds to organisations tackling the climate and nature crises.
Climate change is not the only front Eno has been active on – he recently announced details of a fundraising concert ‘Together For Palestine’ at London’s Wembley Arena on 17 September, which will feature performances from Damon Albarn, Jamie xx and Sampha.