Accelerating Carbon Abatement

Carbon Brief has assembled 28 quotes spanning nearly two decades of comments by Andy Burnham, the UK's new prime minister, on climate change, net-zero, fossil fuels, energy, and transport. The compilation notes that Burnham stayed notably tight-lipped on climate during his leadership campaign, telling one interviewer he had "something of an open mind" on new North Sea oil and gas drilling, but that his broader record tells a different story. Just a year earlier, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he endorsed the proposed fossil fuel treaty to phase out coal, oil, and gas, calling it a "lifeline," and declared there should be "no turning away from net-zero." The quotes trace his consistent framing of climate action as an economic opportunity to create jobs and "level up" the north of England, his repeated opposition to fracking, his warnings that net-zero risked becoming "the new Brexit" if not handled fairly, and comments on aviation and public transport reaching back to his time in the Treasury in 2008… Click below to read more