'The climate crisis is here!' Andy Burnham doubles down on Net Zero by 2050 in major intervention

Andy Burnham has doubled down on Britain achieving Net Zero by 2050 as he warned that Britons must no longer believe the "climate crisis" does not affect them.

The Prime Minister said he was "acutely aware" of the "anxieties" felt by some after a warm summer as he unveiled almost £30million in taxpayer funding for community-led renewable energy projects.

He wrote in The Guardian: “The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is here and with us now.

“I am determined that we meet the commitment on which Labour was elected and reach Net Zero by 2050."

Mr Burnham added that he wanted to push the country to "believe in itself again".

The Prime Minister's declaration comes as Labour weighs up whether to approve new drilling projects in the North Sea amid mounting concerns that Britain may not meet its self-set climate targets.

If the plans for North Sea oil drilling are dropped, it could spark a major row with the White House.

Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Britain to open up offshore drilling, previously telling GB News he "cannot get the point across" enough.

The President previously suggested Mr Burnham had told him he was "going to open up North Sea oil" - a move the American leader said would transform Britain into a "a wealthy country".

In his piece, the Prime Minister stopped short at mentioning his Government's most ambitious climate goal - decarbonising the electricity grid by 2030.

Mr Burnham wrote: “Punishing heatwaves left nurses collapsing on hospital wards and bus drivers working in 40C cabs.

"Wildfires destroyed homes, leaving families with nothing. And more extreme weather is forecast in the months ahead."

He continued: "The British people are no longer insulated from the consequences and they do not want to be excluded from the solutions.

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"They are looking for ways to do their bit. Community energy gives them that chance.”

The Prime Minister insisted that the funding dished out to “people’s power projects” will give communities across Britain to chance to take the reins over their own clean energy supply.

He also claimed the projects were “the only lasting way to bring down bills is to produce more of our own clean, renewable energy at home”.

Eco-activist group Greenpeace UK has piled praise Mr Burnham's intervention.

The group's head of politics, Ami McCarthy, said: “The Prime Minister is right: the UK should feel determined to reach Net Zero by 2050 and the green transition is the rocket that will propel us there.

“But why this Government is still dithering over Jackdaw and Rosebank - schemes that will bloat the profits of a few fossil fuel companies and not [help] bill payers - is a complete mystery.”

Mr Burnham's announcement comes just days after a parliamentary committee urged ministers to drop the term "Net Zero" because it has become “a lightning rod for opposition to climate action”.

The phrase “has lost much of its significant positive association” and is becoming a distraction from the shift to green power, a report concluded.

The review - from the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee of cross-party MPs - is aimed at "reframing" the case for clean energy and building public support for the green transition.

The term "Net Zero" led to “stale debate” on emissions targets, it found.

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