How green is Andy Burnham? Britain’s next PM faces tough climate decisions

Campaigners outside Westminster call on Andy Burnham to stop plans to drill in the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea. Photograph: Guy Bell/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Campaigners outside Westminster call on Andy Burnham to stop plans to drill in the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea. Photograph: Guy Bell/Shutterstock Analysis How green is Andy Burnham? Britain’s next PM faces tough climate decisions Fiona Harvey Environment editor Heatwaves, high energy prices, calls for reindustrialisation and North Sea drilling are all high on the to-do list UK politics live – latest updates Wildfires cast a pall of smoke this week over Greater Manchester , whose former mayor Andy Burnham stands on the threshold of No 10. Amid three UK heatwaves so far this year, which have killed thousands of people in England and Wales, damaged harvests and left children crying in classrooms , the new prime minister’s plans for the climate crisis remain as shrouded as his city. “Burnham has been very quiet about the climate [crisis] so far,” says Chris Venables, an environmental campaigner and fellow at the Green Alliance thinktank. “I don’t think [it] is at the forefront of his mind, but that does not mean he will water down this agenda.” Ed Miliband, the UK’s champion of climate action as energy secretary, is the target of vitriol from rightwing media and politicians. Burnham has been considering him for chancellor of the exchequer, which would signal a major boost for policies to achieve low-carbon economic growth. Rivals have been briefing that Miliband has lost out to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood , which could be a setback to climate policy. But while Burnham may be getting away with ignoring the climate for now, the crisis is not ignoring Britain. The heatwaves in May and June, which killed about 2,700 people , also hit the UK’s businesses to the tune of at least £2.4bn in lost productivity alone . Another poor harvest would be the fourth since 2020 , hurting farmers and consumers with higher shopping bills. If a fossil fuel-driven “super El Niño” weather system strikes as forecast around the world, food prices will soar further . View image in fullscreen Burnham expanded and began to electrify the bus services in Greater Manchester during his time as mayor. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Rescuing the British economy is top of the prime ministerial to-do list; rescuing the climate, and nature, is inseparable from that, says Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts. “We treat these things as if they’re in silos, but it’s much better to solve them in a holistic and joined-up way,” he says. “Flourishing nature and tackling the energy crisis are good for our economy, for our national security – as the joint intelligence committee found – and for health, welfare, wellbeing.” So the question is: how green is Andy Burnham? Burnham’s record in Manchester suggests a clear understanding of the challenge . He set a local target of reaching net z