Burnham Vows UK Will Hit Net Zero Target Despite Jackdaw Gasfield Approval

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will not abandon the responsibility to fight the climate crisis after the government approved the Jackdaw gasfield, saying he would not approve any new North Sea licences and that he would hit the net zero 2050 target.

Pledging his government’s commitment to address the climate crisis, the prime minister said their determination is unwavering. The comments are his most forthright yet on net zero, after many MPs privately cast doubt on the authenticity of his commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

At the same time, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh insisted that she alone would make a decision on whether to approve the Rosebank oilfield — a decision sources say she is minded to block.

Burnham has been under pressure from industry and political opponents, as well as some Labour MPs, to water down Labour’s manifesto promises on new oil and gas licences and the net zero targets.

In an article, the prime minister said there has been much speculation about what this announcement means for Britain’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis, and he wanted to be clear that their determination is unwavering.

He said he was conscious of the acute global instability affecting energy security and wanted to treat oil and gas workers with more dignity.

Burnham said that would not stop the government from abiding by its climate targets, saying he was personally committed to confronting the challenges of the climate crisis.

He wrote that Britain has just emerged from its hottest summer on record, during which nurses were collapsing on hospital wards, bus drivers were working in intolerable conditions and families were losing everything to wildfires. More extreme weather is forecast in the months ahead, and the climate crisis is no distant threat but is here, affecting people’s lives and livelihoods, he added.

Fahnbulleh, meanwhile, doubled down on her insistence that she would not be influenced by other departments on the Rosebank decision, setting up a potential standoff with the Treasury.

Chancellor John Healey has said he expects oil and gas revenues to contribute to a new energy wealth fund, but Fahnbulleh said only she can make that decision, insisting she bears the legal responsibility to ensure the UK does not violate its climate commitments. If the decision were overturned by other colleagues, it would be overturned in the courts, she said.

Fahnbulleh said she was really concerned and quite sad about the breakdown in consensus around the climate crisis. She said the position of Reform was sad, but she was even sadder about the Conservatives because they know better and have had a long tradition, including Boris Johnson, of working cross-party on climate action.

Reflecting on the decision to approve the Jackdaw gasfield, Burnham said he wanted to make the transition to a greener future on their own terms, meaning giving oil and gas workers a path to new jobs and using homegrown rather than imported gas. At a time of acute global instability, it makes sense to responsibly use resources at home, and gas from this field will begin heating homes and powering businesses this winter, he said.