A screen shows Andy Burnham addressing Cop31 in Antalya, Turkey, on Thursday. The prime minister told fellow leaders the UK was still aiming for net zero by 2050. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Andy Burnham’s newly appointed climate adviser used report to warn of national security risk from collapsing ecosystems
The UK government still has no plans to publish an explosive report showing the national security risk from the collapse of ecosystems around the world – even after handing the key official behind the report a new advisory role. …
The report was supposed to be launched at last year’s Cop, but was suppressed by Keir Starmer’s government. The Guardian revealed – through a leak – the key contents of the report ahead of its intended launch last year, and early this year a redacted version was put out. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, has briefed foreign governments on the findings and the report clearly influenced Burnham’s decision to appoint Alessandri, but the report itself remains under wraps.
Burnham told Cop31 that Britain was ready to play its full part. “The message I carry here, in my first Cop as prime minister, is that the UK remains determined to reach net zero by 2050 and to work with our partners to build a clean energy future,” he said.
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Ami McCarthy, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said of Burnham’s speech to Cop: “[It] hit the right notes, but noises offstage about a massive new oilfield and looser rules on electric cars almost drowned him out.
“Appointing the world’s first climate security envoy is a welcome move, but approving Rosebank would only increase the climate threat level to communities in Britain and around the world.
“There are so many elephants in the room, you’d think it’s a zoo. Burnham needs to start bridging the widening chasm between words and deeds on climate action.”
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.Greenpeace activists display a billboard during a protest outside Shell headquarters on July 27, 2023 in London. (Photo: Handout/Chris J. Ratcliffe for Greenpeace via Getty Images)Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark Richards
Fossil Free London held the first of six protests planned for the next fortnight [Pic: Fossil Free London]
As ministers head to Cop31, climate campaigners are taking their fight to the Treasury, demanding Labour abandons new fossil fuel projects and steps up its green ambitions
A FORTNIGHT of protests against fossil fuels began outside the Treasury today as ministers headed to Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to enter his first climate talks as PM tomorrow, but Fossil Free London called his record on the question “abysmal” and Friends of the Earth demanded higher taxes on the oil and gas industry to fund environmental clean-ups and climate mitigation.
Fossil Free London held the first of six protests planned for the next fortnight, demanding the government rule out approval of the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.
Its director Robin Wells said: “We know that [Cop31] is a busman’s holiday for the fossil fuel industry, and usually awash with an oil slick of fossil fuel lobbyists.
“Andy Burnham’s record on climate so far is abysmal. Not only did he grant Shell a climate-wrecking gas field, Jackdaw, the government has just cut the warm homes programme, pledged to veto new wind farms and will potentially roll back the electric vehicle mandate.”
Rejecting Rosebank would place Labour on a collision course with industry unions, which argue the collapse of the North Sea oil and gas industry without a planned transition to renewables would abandon communities and threaten energy security.
Friends of the Earth said the government should go further than rejecting Rosebank by vetoing expansion of Heathrow airport and placing a moratorium on the construction of new data centres.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.
A costume depicting Andy Burnham, made by Protest Props. Photo: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters
Andy Burnham is stuck in neutral.
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The budget’s £100 sticking-plaster energy bung for households in four council tax bands does nothing to solve the long-term cost-of-living crisis or improve British energy security. And this seems to be something of a pattern – big talk and puny delivery. Take the failed monopoly on water: the eight new regional water councils announced yesterday will allow local leaders to “set priorities” and “shape billions of pounds of investment” but, crucially, they do not put water back into public ownership.
This is to say nothing of the climate-illiterate decision to green-light new gas drilling in the North Sea, and murmurs that approval of the much more damaging new Rosebank oil field was baked into the budget.
Alongside the can-kicking and edge-tinkering, there’s also Burnham’s admission in the summer that his government “got it wrong” on Gaza and foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s appeal at Labour conference to everyone horrified by the slaughter of Palestinians: “You were right.” Both statements are ageing like a tuna sandwich stuffed behind a radiator (if you can afford to turn yours on, of course).
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[P]eaceful protesters opposing the ban on Palestine Action have reportedly been handed bail conditions barring them from any protest in support of… Palestine. Not Palestine Action – Palestine in general. Burnham’s willingness to keep this authoritarian and antidemocratic farce going is damning, and the footage of retirees being carried away by cops makes Britain a laughing stock on the global stage.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.
Campaigners from Fossil Free London, Christian Climate Action and Stop Rosebank gathered outside DESNZ to protest against new oil and gas, October 31, 2026[Pic: Fossil Free London]
HUNDREDS of climate activists rallied outside the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero in London on Saturday, demanding that it rejects an application to develop the North Sea Rosebank oil field.
Activists from Fossil Free London, Christian Climate Action, Stop Rosebank, and Greenpeace also denounced the government’s decision last week to approve the Jackdaw gas field, displaying banners and chanting: “Rosebank? No thanks!”
Fossil Free London director Robin Wells said: “At a time when we need climate action, the government slapped us with Jackdaw. If Rosebank is also approved it would be a climate wrecking ball whose impact would shatter public safety for generations.
“It shouldn’t be anybody’s job to remind those in elected positions that burning more oil and gas is not compatible with a liveable future in which we can enjoy safety in our homes, workplaces and the national parks we love. Fires and heatwaves will only get worse. [Prime Minister] Andy Burnham knows this.”
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.
Green party leader Zack Polanski (Green Party of England and Wales). Image: Bristol Green Party Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Shocking levels of access afforded to oil and gas representatives revealed by Scotland’s The Sunday National newspaper have been called out by Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
Records show the main firms involved in Rosebank and Jackdaw and lobbying for it (Shell, Equinor, Ithaca, Adura and industry body OEUK) met with UK ministers 200 times between July 2024 and June 2026.
The exposé comes as Jackdaw has been approved and the cabinet are split over whether to give the green light to the highly controversial Rosebank oil field, a decision which is expected imminently.
Backbench Labour MPs are said to be furious about the Chancellor’s alleged interference in the upcoming decision, with one MP saying a decision to give the go ahead to the oil drilling project would be “politically explosive.”
It has been estimated that up to 50 Labour MPs could lose their seats to the Greens if Rosebank is given the go ahead. A new YouGov poll shows that 51% of people in the UK support laws to phase out oil and gas production.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales said:
“This summer we saw nearly 3000 people die from extreme heat while wildfires raged across the country. This is the crucial decade for climate action – yet Labour ministers are still holding cozy meetings with oil and gas bosses with alarming frequency.
“Budget documents revealed the government is paving the way to greenlight Rosebank which would be catastrophic for the climate. But it’s no wonder this Labour government is making decisions that put the profits of oil and gas giants above the safety of people in this country, when they are constantly rubbing shoulders with them.
“The people of this country deserve better. We need to say no to new oil and gas drilling, a tightened-up windfall tax on oil and gas and an end to tax breaks for fossil fuel companies so we can stop backing climate-wrecking polluters and take real action for a safe future instead.”
The Green Party was the only major political party to condemn the Labour government’s decision to give the go ahead to the Jackdaw gas field last month.
In September over 500 scientists and health professionals from across the UK wrote an open letter calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to reject Rosebank. They warned that “approval of Rosebank would be ignoring the warnings of scientific research on climate change and would be the wrong decision for the UK, sending a dangerous message on the international stage.”
In July UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “Every new fossil fuel project approved today makes tomorrow’s heatwaves more dangerous, and our world less secure.”
The decision on Rosebank will also be a test of the government’s proposed sanctions on companies involved in illegal settlements in the West Bank. The FCDO has been on notice since January 2026 that greenlighting Rosebank would put it in breach of Articles 49 and 53 of the Geneva Conventions, as an estimated £235 million would end up flowing to the Delek Group, an Israeli based company that has been blacklisted by the UN.
Today’s revelations come days after another lobbying scandal involving AI and data centres. An investigation by Spotlight on Corruption showed the UK government met representatives of 137 different businesses about AI data centres between July 2024 and June 2026, but not a single environmental group. Chancellor John Healey announced a data centre convenant in his budget last week which, although welcomed by the industry, was condemned as insulting voluntarism by campaigners.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Donald Trump urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Fossil Free London held the first of six protests planned for the next fortnight [Pic: Fossil Free London]
