17th Sep 2026 14:15
(Alliance News) - Andy Burnham has insisted he was "determined" to reach net zero by 2050 as he announced nearly GBP30 million for community-led renewable energy projects.
The UK prime minister's pledge came after an influential group of MPs recommended the phrase net zero should be scrapped by the government as it has become toxic to the public.
Burnham said he was "acutely aware" of Britons' concern about climate change after a summer of record heat.
"The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is here and with us now," the prime minister wrote in an op-ed in the Guardian.
He said the country would need to adapt to the crisis by changing "the way we travel, build homes and produce energy".
"I have long seen the green transition as the best chance we will ever have to reindustrialise Britain."
The funding for "People's Power projects" would allow communities to build and control their own clean energy supply, he said, arguing that "the only lasting way to bring down bills is to produce more of our own clean, renewable energy at home".
He also wrote: "I am determined that we meet the commitment on which Labour was elected and reach net zero by 2050.
"I want Britain to believe in itself again."
It appears to mark Burnham's strongest intervention on the issue, after opponents accused him of reacting slowly to the summer's extreme heat, droughts and wildfires.
Provisional figures from the Met Office suggested 2026 was the UK's hottest summer since records began.
The premier also faces pressure from both sides over looming decisions on whether to approve the controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields.
Climate campaigners are urging him to block the proposed new developments in the North Sea, while the oil and gas industry and opposition politicians have argued they would create thousands of jobs and cut bills.
Permission for one or both would throw his commitment to net zero into question.
His reference to net zero followed a call by the cross-party Commons Energy Security & Net Zero Committee to ditch the term.
The panel warned in its latest report that it has now "lost much of its significant positive association" amid increasing misinformation.
Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have broken with the consensus around net zero and have called for Britain to get more of its energy from tapping fossil fuel reserves in the North Sea.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has announced the Tories no longer support the target of Britain meeting net zero by 2050, while Reform UK has attacked the government's green energy policies as "net stupid zero".
The committee's report said: "The term net zero has lost much of its significant positive association. It increasingly acts as a distraction from the broader aims of the energy transition and as a lightning rod for opposition to climate action.
"As part of efforts to communicate the energy transition effectively, the term net zero should be dropped from the department's (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) name and its key communications."
The report also recommended the government changes how it communicates its energy transition plans.
"Simply providing information will not be enough," it said, with the MPs warning this could lead to those opposed to net zero becoming more entrenched in their opinion.
Eco-tycoon Dale Vince said he had been making the same recommendation since June.
He said: "Net zero has been toxified – abandoning the use of it is a good idea.
"Net zero speaks to giving stuff up, we should be talking about what we gain from the green transition. The green economy is a better term than net zero.
"If we drop net zero we take away one of the right wing's biggest attack lines. I'm all for it."
By Sophie Wingate, David Lynch and Harry Taylor, Press Association Political Staff
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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