11,000 campaigners call on PM to “stop fanning the flames of the climate crisis” in petition stunt outside No. 10 North

11,000 campaigners call on PM to “stop fanning the flames of the climate crisis” in petition stunt outside No. 10 North

TORI TSUI, award winning climate campaigner, author and the lead petitioner, has urged the Prime Minister to reject Rosebank and not “turn his back on the future that he once believed in” ahead of the Labour Party Conference. 

A coalition of local residents, environmental campaigners, union representatives, organisations and a giant papier-mâché ‘Andy Burnham’ held a stunt outside No. 10 North today [Friday] to demand the new Government show leadership after a deadly summer of extreme heat, drought and wildfires.

The petition, signed by over 11,000 residents from across the UK, warned that “Britain is dangerously unprepared” and that communities are already facing excess deaths, school closures, cancelled hospital appointments and rising food bills as a result of climate and nature breakdown.

Patrick Brennan from Fire Brigade Union North West warned that Britain is “stretched to the limit” and that this summer was a warning that the Government can’t ignore.  

Signatories are calling on the PM to (1) meet the UK's international climate and nature commitments; (2) pass the Nature + National Security Bill in this Parliament; and (3) reject all new oil and gas licences, including the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field, Rosebank, and deliver a just transition.

Lead petitioner, Tori Tsui, stood alongside Andy Burnham last year on World Environment Day when the then Greater Manchester Mayor endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty proposal, calling it a “lifeline” to end coal, oil and gas. Today [Friday], her petition was sent to the Prime Minister urging him to stand by that commitment and reject Rosebank.

Despite the Prime Minister telling MPs his Government will “meet the climate challenge” in his first statement to Parliament, campaigners are demanding to see that ambition matched with action after an emergency wildfire Cobra meeting in August resulted in little more than a ban on disposable barbecues.

Later this year, the Prime Minister will bring forward a 10-year plan for Britain, which Zero Hour’s co-executive director, and petition organiser, Dr Amy McDonnell, has said “must be judged on how it responds to the rapidly increasing impacts communities are experiencing from climate and nature breakdown.”

 

Tori Tsui, award winning climate campaigner and author, said:

“Last year Andy Burnham stood alongside me and Massive Attack to back our campaign to stop the expansion of fossil fuel exploitation. A lot has changed since then. Most obviously, Andy is now our Prime Minister.

“But while Andy’s political fortunes may have gone up, for communities across the country, the climate and nature crisis has made life worse. A new reality of wildfires, floods, struggling services, and rising costs.

“As fossil fuels drive more extreme and erratic weather, communities now living through this crisis will feel devastated if Andy’s commitment as Mayor crumbles into a ‘pragmatic approach’ to oil and gas as Prime Minister.

“Rosebank will be the ultimate test: will Andy Burnham stick with the values he was proud to hold as Mayor, or turn his back on the future that he once believed in.”

 

Patrick Brennan, Greater Manchester Brigade Organiser, Fire Brigade Union North West, said:

“Firefighters know an emergency when they see one. And let me be clear: we are in one.

“We’re on the frontline of this crisis day in, day out, fighting wildfires and floods and seeing first hand the devastating impact on communities and the environment.

“The truth is, we’re stretched to the limit and not properly equipped for what all the evidence shows us is coming. This summer was a warning. And we can’t ignore it.

“That's why I'm here today. The FBU want to work with the PM to urgently commit to protecting our communities by leading from the front.”

 

Dr Amy McDonnell, Co-executive Director of Zero Hour, said: 

“Standing outside the doors of the new ‘engine of government’, our message to the Prime Minister is clear: get to grips with the climate and nature crisis before it’s too late.

“Britain has had a wake up call this year, from winter floods to a blistering summer, and our homes, crops and infrastructure simply can’t cope. Tinkering around the edges is no longer an option. Communities are crying out for change. In fact, 11,000 people have signed this petition demanding it.

“The farmers who have faced yet another bad harvest, the parents who scrambled as schools shut, and the hospital workers and patients who could barely cope in the deadly heat will be watching the Prime Minister’s 10-year plan with bated breath. They, like us, know it must be judged on how it responds to the rapidly increasing impacts communities are experiencing from climate and nature breakdown.”

The Petition

Dear Prime Minister, 

This summer, the UK was in the grip of a ‘firewave’. Sounds like an emergency? Yet despite a COBR meeting, we have had little more than a temporary ban on BBQs. As Britain swelters through heatwaves, wildfires and droughts, communities need real long-term solutions, not short-term sticking plasters.

The climate and nature crisis is here and now: excess deaths, school closures, cancelled hospital appointments and rising food bills. Are you prepared to meet the moment?

And while high temperatures are threatening a spike in heat related deaths, closing down our schools, and impacting our power and water supplies, we’ve also had three of the worst harvests on record in just the last five years, threatening our ability to grow food. The Government has already been forced to buy and demolish homes because they can no longer be protected from rising flood risk. And our own intelligence chiefs have warned that ecosystem collapse poses serious threats to our national security.

This crisis is no longer creeping towards us. It’s crashing through our front doors. And the truth is, Britain is dangerously unprepared and it’s communities that are now paying the price.

But this is not a choice between dealing with climate change or growing our economy - as big oil and gas and some in the media would have you believe. They are one and the same. Britain's net zero economy is already worth more than £100 billion a year. And as The Confederation of British Industry has confirmed, it’s creating better-paid jobs, delivering growth across the country, and expanding three times faster than the rest of the economy. The route to a safer future is also our greatest opportunity.

Now you’re in Number 10, will you be the first PM to get to grips with the emergency once and for all?

In 2024, as Mayor of Greater Manchester, you backed the Climate and Nature Bill because you recognised that Britain needed bold, science-led action to tackle the twin crises of climate breakdown and nature loss.

Despite your predecessors failing to progress the Bill, the crisis did not disappear. It accelerated.

Now, with the full power of Government behind you, you face a defining choice. Will you deliver the change we need? We urge you to:

 

• Meet the UK's international climate and nature commitments
  Delivering the promises Britain has made under the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Pass the Nature + National Security Bill in this Parliament
  Protecting communities, food security and our economy from the escalating threats posed by ecosystem breakdown and extreme weather.

• Reject all new oil and gas licences, including Rosebank, and deliver a just transition
  Backing a worker-led transition to clean energy that is properly funded and rooted in the communities driving Britain's future.

The heat is on, and Britain can't afford to wait. We need you to act now to secure our future.

Signed as 11,362 residents of the UK.