Letter to PM argues series of wrong choices on North Sea oil, Heathrow, EVs and heat pumps will scupper net zero plans
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.”
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/27/burnham-sleepwalking-climate-disaster-campaigners
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