Fracking and climate breakdown

Victory on fracking

After 8 years of campaigning by local groups and NGOs, the UK government has announced a moratorium on fracking.

This is a huge victory for the climate, and shows what can be achieved when communities join together for a common goal.

Of course Friends of the Earth always has, and always will, call for a full fracking ban and for the government to stop supporting fracking overseas, but now is a great moment to celebrate what we have achieved.

Find out more

We won the fight against fracking, and community action was the key to victory. Why not do something amazing in your community?

Join a Climate Action group

What is fracking?

Fracking is a process used to extract shale gas or shale oil. Both are fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases when burnt, contributing to climate breakdown.

Shale rock has to be fractured to get to the gas or oil – this is known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking for short. A mixture of water, sand and chemicals is pumped down the well at very high pressure. This fractures the rock and when the pressure is released, the gas or oil flows back up the well.

Fracking has also triggered many small earthquakes in the UK.

More facts about fracking

You can be in favour of fixing the climate. Or you can be in favour of exploiting shale gas. But you can’t be in favour of both at the same time.
John Ashton, former envoy for climate change at the UK Foreign Office

Why we don’t need fracking (or coal)

Almost all our energy can reliably come from renewable energy generated by wind, waves and sun.

Renewables have been generating more energy than coal in the UK since 2016. The technology works and costs are falling at lightning pace.

Coal is due to come off the system soon – and renewables are ready to close this gap, without the need for fracking. We could have almost-fully-renewable electricity in the next decade.

SWITCH TO GREEN ENERGY