Can we stop oil?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 10 August 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Environmental activists in the UK have disrupted high profile sporting events in an effort to persuade the government to stop oil development. How would stopping oil production impact those countries around the world with economies dependent on oil?
Tanya Beckett explores the history of oil, the implications of the Ukraine war for its price, how countries like Nigeria and Norway are dependent on oil revenues, and the challenges facing new oil producers in the global south as they face international efforts to limit new oil development in order to meet international climate targets.
Presenter Tanya Beckett Producer Phil Reevell Researcher Matt Toulson Editor Tara McDermott Technical producer Gareth Jones
(Industrial offshore oil rig platform on the North Seacoast, UK. Credit Getty images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The captain, you know, he went on the radio and he's like, |
| 0:04.3 | we just want to make sure everyone knows he has a perfect champion on the plane. |
| 0:08.3 | On the podium is back with more Olympians and Paralympians |
| 0:11.9 | sharing their remarkable stories. On the podium, |
| 0:15.4 | listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:19.2 | Welcome to the inquiry with me, Tanya Beckett. |
| 0:22.4 | One question for expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:27.2 | In July, players and spectators at Wimbledon Tennis Tournament were shocked to have |
| 0:32.0 | play interrupted by protesters throwing showers of orange confetti. |
| 0:37.6 | And another disruption for the second time in 418 today. |
| 0:43.7 | It was a strange thing to happen, but increasingly familiar to sports fans. |
| 0:49.6 | Environmental activist group Just Stop Oil has recently been targeting other high profile |
| 0:56.4 | such as snooker championships and football matches. |
| 1:01.5 | The group wants the UK government to halt new licenses for the exploration of fossil fuels, |
| 1:08.0 | with Britain planning to start some 100 new oil and gas projects in the next few years. |
| 1:14.4 | But the UK is not alone in forging ahead with planning to produce more fossil fuels, |
| 1:19.2 | despite widespread awareness of their contribution to climate change. |
| 1:24.4 | The challenge many countries face is that selling oil is so embedded in their economies |
| 1:29.7 | that moving away from their dependency on it is almost unimaginable. |
| 1:35.4 | So this week on the inquiry, I'm asking, can we stop oil? |
| 1:45.2 | Part one, the history of oil. |
| 1:48.8 | Right now the world is consuming 100 million barrels of oil a day. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.