More governments are approving drilling in deeper, riskier, more ecologically sensitive environments. They justify this through the mantra of “energy security”. The search for “new” oil supplies has come to dominate policy agendas, at the expense of cleaner, alternative energy sources. The heavy bias towards fossil fuels undermines government policies to address global climate change and to meet renewable energy targets.

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This Platform report provides in-depth analysis of these trends and alerts policy makers to the environmental and safety concerns around present and planned offshore drilling in the UK North Sea and the Falkland Islands. It exposes significant capacity shortfalls in government inspection agencies and highlights key areas where better regulatory oversight is urgently required to prevent future disasters.