Britain has opened a new licensing round for energy companies to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea, despite anger and threats of legal challenges from climate campaigners.

Nearly 900 locations are being given up for exploration as of Friday, with up to 100 licences expected to be handed down to firms, a move international climate scientists say will add to the acceleration of the climate crisis.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency have both said there must not be any new oil and gas projects if the rise in global temperature are to be kept under 1.5 degrees Celsius - an increase that would likely see 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs dying off worldwide.

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The decision comes as European nations attempt to tackle rising energy prices amid the Ukraine conflict and Russia's consequent move to drastically reduce gas exports to the continent. 

The UK government's own climate advisers stated earlier this year that the best way to help people struggling with skyrocketing energy prices was to stop switch to renewables instead of drilling for more fossil fuels - a pledge the ruling Conservative Party vowed to keep at last year's UN Climate Change Conference.

However, UK Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said the new oil and gas licences would offer more energy security amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, and would not affect the government's legally binding commitment to hit net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

"Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine means it is now more important than ever that we make the most of sovereign energy resources," he said in a statement. 

Bucking the trend

UK climate minister Graham Stuart said that it was also worth reflecting that the UK was in a stronger position than most of its European partners when it came to reliance on fossil fuels from Moscow. 

"Unlike them (other European nations) we're not dependent on Russian gas. We produce nearly half of our gas domestically and that's why we should continue to do so while we're burning it," he said.  

"I'm confident that the government has done everything in its power, working with [regulator] Ofgem, the National Grid to make sure we're in the strongest possible position," he said.

Stuart added that the government would not be asking people to use less energy, despite a warning from the National Grid, the UK's power network, that homes and businesses could face three-hour planned blackouts this winter.

Such an approach is in direct opposition to what the UK's neighbors have agreed, with most EU nations voluntarily reducing gas use by 15 percent and urging businesses to cut energy use and public buildings to turn down their heating.

"We're not in the business of telling people how to live their lives," Stuart said on Times Radio, claiming that any public information campaign would not reduce the risk to Britain's energy supply.

However, the UK energy supplier and regulator Ofgem did say it was working with the government to reward people who cut gas use at peak times.

Under new Prime Minister Liz Truss, Britain's plan to bolster its energy security has also included lifting a ban on fracking for shale gas in England, despite climate experts saying that new fossil fuel exploration and extraction would do little in the short term to ease the pains of those struggling to pay their bills.