Burnham in danger of sleepwalking into climate disaster, say campaigners

Andy Burnham will “sleepwalk” into climate disaster if he fails to get a grip on a series of important policies whose combined impact could scupper plans to reach net zero, campaigners have said.

Big decisions on North Sea drilling, the expansion of Heathrow airport, electric vehicles (EVs) and grants for heat pumps are awaiting decisions from ministers.

But they should be considered in the context of their cumulative impacts rather than be taken separately by different government departments, according to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth (FoE) in a letter to the prime minister.

Taken together, the emissions resulting from approving drilling at the Rosebank oilfield, expanding Heathrow airport, watering down the UK’s EV targets and cutting heat pump grants would be 402m tonnes of CO₂ over the next 25 years, the letter says.

The emissions would be greater than those of 106 coal plants running for a year, more than enough to prevent the UK meeting its carbon budgets and net zero.

Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace, said: “The Burnham government is facing a series of big decisions over the next few months that could define its legacy on climate. This administration seems to get the urgency of cutting the emissions causing deadly heatwaves and droughts, but there’s a real risk they could still sleepwalk into reversing the strong progress the UK has made so far.”

Last week, the government gave the go-ahead to drill the Jackdaw gasfield, despite warnings that it would create only 27 new jobs, fail to cut the cost of living, and add little to UK tax revenues. Now, the North Sea fossil fuel industry is pressing for a green light to the more controversial Rosebank oilfield, west of Shetland, which would produce higher emissions.

Car manufacturers have lobbied hard for the government to water down its mandate to ensure all new car and van sales are electric by 2035, by allowing as many as half of sales to be petrol or diesel in 2030, which would mean falling far short of the current target of 80% electric by then. Given the long life of vehicles, this could produce future emissions equal to about 60% of the emissions from Rosebank, according to analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank.

Airlines are also pressing for an expansion of Heathrow, which the chancellor, John Healey, strongly favours in the belief that it could increase economic growth. Campaigners challenge this analysis, arguing the UK is already embarking on airport expansion at Gatwick.

In his budget on Wednesday, Healey is also likely to cut the boiler upgrade scheme, which provides grants to households installing heat pumps in place of gas boilers, despite the savings on gas use that it represents and the slow speed of the transition to electric heating so far.

Parr said: “Decisions about Rosebank, Heathrow expansion, electric vehicle targets or heat pump funding should not be rushed through or made in isolation – ministers need to be far-sighted and keep track of their cumulative impact on our climate. The carbon bill may take a while to turn up, but there’s hell to pay when it does.”

If Burnham were to reject these high-carbon plans, the UK could build a cleaner, more equal and more prosperous society, added Imogen Dow, climate lead at FoE. Renewable energy could bring down bills, particularly amid soaring oil and gas prices, and the net zero economy has grown faster than the rest of the economy, according to the CBI.

Dow said: “Delivering on our climate goals is not solely a win for the planet – it will also strengthen the economy, lower household bills, improve public health and protect the places we call home.

“At a time when powerful vested interests are pushing the world towards climate catastrophe, it’s more important than ever that governments like the UK stand strong.”

A government spokesperson said: “Reindustrialisation will never mean reneging on our climate obligations and net zero. Over the past two years, clean power has secured £110bn in announced investment and supported thousands of jobs through our record renewable energy auctions.”