See the original Guardian article at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/12/urgent-climate-policies-uk-should-implement-now

Rejecting North Sea drilling licences and protecting nature are just some measures Andy Burnham must implement to ready country

From record-smashing temperatures, wildfires, hosepipe bans and thousands of premature deaths, the climate crisis has left its mark across the summer of 2026.

Tackling the root cause – the burning of fossil fuels – and ending the crisis will take years. So will fixing the UK government’s calamitous failure to protect lives and livelihoods against the long-predicted affects of global heating.

But the climate emergency is right here, right now, and here are 10 policies that Andy Burnham’s government should consider announcing urgently.

1. Reject drilling licences for the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gasfields

This would be a vital and confidence-boosting sign that the UK is committed to putting a rocket-booster under the clean, green and very fast-growing economy of the 21st century, not the fossil-fuelled one of the last. It would also give diplomatic weight to the UK as it works internationally to cut emissions and end the climate crisis.

The supposed benefits of approving the North Sea oil and gasfields are mostly fantasy. They will have no impact on UK energy prices – oil and gas are commodities whose price is set by international markets. As the UK Energy Research Council says: “Assertions that drilling the North Sea will provide energy resilience and affordability in the face of current fuel price shocks are a delusion.”

As for jobs, the licences would support very few – again, unlike the growing green economy. Some also argue North Sea production is less carbon intensive than imports, but that ignores the far cleaner record of our main gas importer, Norway, as well as the methane emissions from LNG, and in any case the differences are small compared with CO2 savings of using renewable energy and storage instead of gas.

2. Increase windfall tax on fossil fuel giants to pay for adaptation measures

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3. Make grey water reuse mandatory in new buildings and incentivise rainwater harvesting

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4. Bring the water industry under national control

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5. Invest in proper equipment for firefighters

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6. Implement a maximum workplace temperature

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7. Fund cool spaces in every community

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8. Launch a national retrofit programme

Homes in the UK are among the draughtiest and least energy-efficient in Europe. This means they are often too hot in summer and too cold in winter, leading to high bills and spiralling carbon emissions.

Efforts to persuade the private sector to take on the challenge of making homes fit for the changing climate have failed. But a report earlier this year suggested councils could take the lead on a retrofitting programme backed by national government. Under the plan, councils would train and employ their own retrofitting workforce and, starting with key public services such as hospitals and care homes, then work through council and social housing before moving on to privately owned homes. The report said it would not only make the country’s homes and public services more climate resilient, but it would also tackle the cost of living, create secure jobs and stimulate growth. They added it would also be a more efficient way of spending the public funds already allocated for insulation.

9. Plant more trees and protect existing nature

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10. Encourage regenerative agriculture approaches to increase food resilience

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Guardian’s article is at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/12/urgent-climate-policies-uk-should-implement-now

dizzy:

11. Make private jets and superyachts history

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12. Tax the rich so much that they’re not able to destroy the planet

The rich hugely drive climate breakdown. Tax them out of existence.

13. Recognise Carbon Capture and Storage as a false solution and abandon it

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14. End all fossil fuel subsidies

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