INTERNATIONAL climate activist Greta Thunberg condemned the British government as “out of touch with reality” today as she joined protesters in London against the Rosebank oil field.

Campaigners gathered outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero against the proposed plans for the new site off the Shetland coast.

The plans were originally expected to get approved before parliamentary recess this month but have been delayed over climate concerns.

Ms Thunberg said that a decision by Energy Secretary Grant Shapps to approve oil and gas explorations at Britain’s largest site would be “deliberately destructive.”

The Swedish activist said: “How can the British government even consider pressing ahead with new drilling when we can see what the burning of fossil fuels is doing to the climate and to people?

“The extreme weather events being experienced around the world right now is just a taste of what’s to come if we don’t get off fossil fuels.”

Speaking separately to Channel 4, she said: “The fact this matter is even on the table, the fact the UK government is even considering approving this, tells us exactly how out of touch from reality [it is].

“We are in an escalating, existential emergency — the climate crisis is a matter of life and death for countless people today — and the situation right now is absolutely absurd.”

She called on ministers to “be on the right side of history,” adding: “We are many who are judging you and who are watching you.

“If you think you can just get away with … continued business as usual to maximise short-term profits, history will judge you very poorly.”

StopRosebank’s Lauren MacDonald said: “There is nothing ‘proportionate and pragmatic’ about opening up new oil fields, to use Rishi Sunak’s words.

“It’s an extreme position in the context of the climate crisis.

“When you add to this that Rosebank won’t lower UK fuel bills, as it’s mostly oil for export, and the fact that the public is effectively stumping up 90 per cent of the costs of developing the field because of the huge subsidies the industry gets, Rosebank makes zero sense.

“This government’s pandering to giant oil companies is holding back the massive expansion we need in cheaper renewables, which is how to lower bills and make sure the UK has an affordable supply of energy that doesn’t mess with our climate.”