Heartland Institute Blasts Andy Burnham’s Net Zero Sermon at COP 31
Heartland UK & Europe Director Lois Perry accuses British Prime Minister of putting climate ideology before affordable energy, British industry, and the financial survival of ordinary families
LONDON (12 November 2026) – The Heartland Institute UK & Europe has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Andy Burnham following his speech at the United Nations COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, accusing him of recycling climate alarmism while totally ignoring the mounting economic pressures facing British households and businesses.
Speaking at COP31, Burnham said: “The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is upon us all now,” before reaffirming his government’s commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050.
Lois Perry, Director of The Heartland Institute UK & Europe, branded the speech a spectacular failure of political priorities:
“Andy Burnham has flown to Turkey to lecture the world about a climate emergency while millions of British people are living through an affordability emergency,” Perry said. “Britain is burning cash, not carbon. The Prime Minister is preaching about the temperature of the planet in 2050 while all families are worried about the temperature of their homes this winter.”
“This is climate virtue-signalling on an industrial scale. Burnham has confused international applause with national leadership,” she added. “The British people cannot pay their electricity bills with standing ovations from United Nations delegates.”
The Heartland Institute UK & Europe argues that the government’s continued pursuit of Net Zero risks placing further pressure on manufacturing, transport, agriculture, and household finances unless ministers demonstrate that the transition can deliver reliable, competitively priced energy.
Perry challenged Burnham’s assertion that dependence on fossil fuels lies at the heart of international energy insecurity:
“Fossil fuels are not some embarrassing historical mistake. They are absolutely fundamental to the functioning of modern civilization,” Perry said. “They power transport, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and the supply chains that keep Britain alive.”
“Burnham wants to portray hydrocarbons as the enemy while conveniently forgetting that the entire infrastructure of modern prosperity was built upon them,” Perry added. “The real threat to British energy security is a political establishment determined to dismantle dependable domestic energy production before affordable, reliable alternatives are fully established.
“Someone pays for the infrastructure. Someone pays for the subsidies. Someone pays when electricity is expensive. And ultimately that someone is the British consumer. Net Zero is being marketed as an economic miracle, but where is the transparent accounting? Where is the honest assessment of what this transformation will cost ordinary people?”
The Heartland Institute UK & Europe warned that Britain risks undermining its industrial competitiveness if climate commitments are pursued without sufficient consideration of international competitors operating under different energy and regulatory conditions.
The Institute further criticised Burnham’s decision to frame climate change as a national security priority, arguing that energy affordability and dependable supply must remain central to any serious security strategy.
“National security begins with keeping the lights on, factories operating and households warm,” Perry said. “Burnham talks about threats decades into the future while failing to confront the immediate vulnerabilities created by expensive energy and an increasingly complex electricity system. Britain needs energy realism, not another sermon from the international climate pulpit.”
Perry directly challenges Downing Street:
“Prime Minister, stop treating Net Zero as a sacred political commandment. Publish the full costs. Defend British industry. Put consumers first. And recognise that affordable energy is not a luxury reserved for the wealthy,” Perrys said. “Britain needs a Prime Minister who fights for British prosperity, not one who flies around the world collecting climate credentials. The greatest danger is not asking difficult questions about Net Zero. It is having a government that refuses to answer them.”
The Heartland Institute UK & Europe advocates market-based approaches to energy, environmental, and economic policy, challenging government intervention and promoting open debate over climate and Net Zero policies.
Lois Perry is the Director of Heartland UK/Europe. She is a former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the founder of Car26, an organization opposed to Great Britain’s headlong direction of Net Zero by 2030. Ms. Perry joined The Heartland Institute as the Director of Heartland UK/Europe in 2024.
