--- title: The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham description: From North Sea oil to energy prices, newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham will face a fractured moment. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/ author: Simmone Shah article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-06-23T18:06:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-20T15:39:24.000Z article:section: Climate og:title: The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham og:description: From North Sea oil to energy prices, newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham will face a fractured moment. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt958036a945b60817/6a3ac77b0198f8e601825c3e/andy-burnham.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: andy-burnham.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham twitter:description: From North Sea oil to energy prices, newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham will face a fractured moment. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt958036a945b60817/6a3ac77b0198f8e601825c3e/andy-burnham.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Updated: Jul 20, 2026 3:39 PM UTCPublished: Jun 23, 2026 6:06 PM UTC  Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks as he celebrates his victory in Makerfield by-election, at Ashton Town Football Club, on June 19, 2026 in Ashton in Makerfield, England. Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks as he celebrates his victory in Makerfield by-election, at Ashton Town Football Club, on June 19, 2026 in Ashton in Makerfield, England.Christopher Furlong—Getty Images  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Updated: Jul 20, 2026 3:39 PM UTCPublished: Jun 23, 2026 6:06 PM UTC Andy Burnham has officially taken the reins as the U.K.’s next prime minister—its [7th in a decade](https://time.com/article/2026/06/27/burnham-britain-why-u-k-is-set-to-get-its-seventh-prime-minister-in-10-years/). In his first speech as prime minister, he [laid out his plans](https://time.com/article/2026/07/17/andy-burnham-first-speech-labour-leader-incoming-prime-minister/) for the country—including bringing down the cost of living and to “help people live well.” Burnham is set to inherit a number of critical energy and [climate](https://time.com/section/climate/) issues—from rising energy prices to increased calls for drilling in the North Sea. Amid a global scale-back on climate action, the U.K. over the past two years was stepping up its ambition under the leadership of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who [announced his resignation](https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/uk-prime-minister-keir-starmer-resignation-reports-burnham-leadership-potential/) last month. Under Starmer’s leadership, the government adopted strong climate targets. In June, the U.K. government announced its seventh carbon budget, which included a new target to cut emissions ‌by around 87% of 1990 levels by 2040\. Energy secretary [Ed Miliband](https://time.com/collections/time100-climate-2024/7172535/ed-miliband/), who is likely to be [appointed](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/17/the-runners-and-riders-for-burnham-cabinet/) to a senior cabinet role under [Burnham](https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/andy-burnham-new-british-prime-minister-contender-starmer-labour-contest/), has also been an ardent supporter of the clean energy transition, setting a target for renewable energy sources to account for at least 95% of electricity generation by 2030 and pushing to phase-down oil and gas exploration. Burnhamwill have to contend with a new “political fracturing” when it comes to climate action in the U.K., says Leo Mercer, policy fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. “There’s been a broad consensus for a long time in the U.K. on climate policy,” says Matthew Lockwood, professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Sussex. “We no longer have that.” ## What climate and energy issues will the new U.K. prime minister face? U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to inherit a number of issues when it comes to climate and energy policy. Most importantly, is finding a way to bring down rising energy prices, which have ballooned following conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. “That's where the political fracturing is, given the increases in gas prices from COVID, Ukraine, the Iran conflict,” says Mercer. “That's linked to the price that consumers and businesses pay for electricity. So one of the key challenges \[for\] Andy Burnham… will be to figure out ways that we can reduce that.” In a speech on Friday, Burnham promised to reduce the price of “essentials,” and is said to be [considering](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/18/andy-burnham-cut-energy-bills-gas-heat-pumps) radical plans that would cut household energy bills by £130 ($174) a year and make running a heat pump cheaper than a gas boiler. Then there’s the ongoing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase North Sea oil and gas production. Amid Starmer’s announcement that he’d step down, Trump once again raised the issue of North Sea oil and gas exploration, after first urging the U.K. to expand its exploration in April. That’s despite the country’s current ban, championed by [Miliband](http://google.com/url?q=https://www.politico.eu/article/ed-miliband-chancellor-potential-andy-burnham-government/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1784564718412880&usg=AOvVaw2nLeuU7z069UN36jO4SdsA). Another critical issue is the decarbonization of homes across the country, most of which are still reliant on natural gas. “The question is, how can you shift just 26 million homes over to heat pumps?” says Lockwood. “That is a huge investment… and there's not enough public money, unless there's a huge amount of additional borrowing.” What’s more, as the U.K. faces rising temperatures due to climate change, a new prime minister will have to prioritize climate adaptation to ensure the country is equipped to deal with extreme heat. “We're in our second heat wave of the summer, and we're not even in July, and so the new prime minister will really have to elevate adaptation as a strategic priority against this backdrop,” says Mercer. ## What is Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s stance on climate action? As mayor of greater Manchester, Burnham set a target for the city to become carbon neutral by 2038, and took measures to get the city on track to meet the goal—including investing in electric buses, helping residents retrofit homes to reduce energy bills and carbon emissions, and launching a partnership with Great British Energy to help back local energy projects across the city. In 2022, his office launched the [Green Spaces Fund](https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/great-green-ideas-mayor-s-nature-fund-invests-500-000-into-greater-manchester-s-green-spaces/), which invested approximately £3.5 million (over $4.6 million) into more than 120 community projects across the city region to help increase the amount of green space in Greater Manchester, boost biodiversity, and fight climate change. His office also created England’s [first](https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/greater-manchester-launches-england-s-first-local-nature-recovery-strategy-in-the-north/) local nature recovery strategy to reverse wildlife decline. So far, Burnham has not commented much on plans for climate action on a national level. However, he could be [interested](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/21/burnham-ally-to-unveil-ambitious-plan-to-reverse-decades-of-privatisation) in pursuing public ownership of resources like energy and water, which experts say could have spillover effects—helping to lower energy costs for consumers and help the government more effectively push for grid infrastructure investments and green energy reforms. “That's an issue which kind of cuts across some of these agendas, though it’s not the same thing as decarbonizing energy, and it's not quite the same thing as immediately bringing down energy costs.” But much remains to be seen. Burnham has [said](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/06/03/andy-burnham-vote-for-me-to-change-labour/) he is “open-minded” about the prospect of drilling in U.K. waters—despite climate impacts and the fact that much of the North Sea’s resources have [already been](https://time.com/article/2026/04/16/trump-uk-north-sea-oil-energy-crisis/) extracted. According to the [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c935yx2z9d4o), Burnham is expected to announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, despite the Labour Party previously pledging to not issue new licences in a 2024 manifesto, which Burnham has [said](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k76gydreo) he would follow. “It's hard to know exactly where he stands on these issues,” says Lockwood. “We're just going to have to wait and see.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/"},"headline":"The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham","datePublished":"2026-06-23T18:06:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-20T15:39:24.000Z","description":"From North Sea oil to energy prices, newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham will face a fractured moment.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/","keywords":["energy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt958036a945b60817/6a3ac77b0198f8e601825c3e/andy-burnham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt958036a945b60817/6a3ac77b0198f8e601825c3e/andy-burnham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"andy-burnham.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Christopher Furlong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/energy/","name":"energy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/top-energy-climate-issues-next-uk-prime-minister/","name":"The Top Energy and Climate Issues Facing U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham"}}]}] ```