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Andy Burnham has insisted that he is “determined” to reach net zero by 2050. The Prime Minister made the pledge as he announced funding for community-led green energy projects.

But a group of MPs has called for the phrase “net zero” to be scrapped by the Government, as it has become toxic with the public. Mr Burnham, who is under pressure to give the green light to more North Sea oil and gas drilling, wrote in The Guardian: “I am determined that we meet the commitment on which Labour was elected and reach net zero by 2050. I want Britain to believe in itself again.”

Mr Burnham added: “The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is here and with us now.”

He said the country would need to adapt to the crisis by changing “the way we travel, build homes and produce energy”.

“I have long seen the green transition as the best chance we will ever have to reindustrialise Britain.”

The Tories and Reform UK have both turned against the 2050 net zero target.

Meanwhile, the cross-party Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee has recommended ditching the term “net zero”.

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The committee’s report said: “The term net zero has lost much of its significant positive association. It increasingly acts as a distraction from the broader aims of the energy transition and as a lightning rod for opposition to climate action.

“As part of efforts to communicate the energy transition effectively, the term net zero should be dropped from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s name and its key communications.”

Eco-tycoon Dale Vince said: “Net zero has been toxified – abandoning the use of it is a good idea.

“Net zero speaks to giving stuff up, we should be talking about what we gain from the green transition. The green economy is a better term than net zero.

“If we drop net zero we take away one of the Right wing’s biggest attack lines. I’m all for it.”

Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, Ami McCarthy, backed Mr Burnham’s commitment to net zero.

She said: “The Prime Minister is right: the UK should feel determined to reach net zero by 2050 and the green transition is the rocket that will propel us there.”