PM urged to uphold climate pledges made as mayor and ban new North Sea oil drilling

Experts who helped Burnham draw up Manchester carbon neutral pledge say backtracking would send wrong message amid wildfires and heatwaves

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Leading climate scientists who created Greater Manchester's carbon neutral by 2038 commitment are urging Andy Burnham to unequivocally reject new drilling in the North Sea.

In a letter to the prime minister they said he, as mayor of Greater Manchester, had unveiled one of the UK's most ambitious local climate programmes that tackled housing, green growth and public transport.