Among the immediate measures suggested by Polanksi were freely accessible cool spaces in “every local area”. He has previously cited a need for such zones in schools, hospitals and care homes.
Polanksi also renewed his call for Burnham’s government to block new oil and gas drilling licences, and block the development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in Scotland.
He also called for a new strategy to prevent wildfires following a series of blazes in various areas this summer, including “firefighting helicopters where needed”.
And he argued that the need to prevent future droughts justified his party’s longstanding policy of taking the water sector in England back into public ownership, arguing it would increase investment in new reservoirs.
However, Labour said the Greens had “repeatedly opposed plans for new reservoirs and clean energy projects” at a local level, which “makes it harder to achieve what they say they want”.
The party cited previous calls from Green councillors for a public inquiry into a planned mega-reservoir in Oxfordshire, and objections from local Greens to the size of solar farms planned in Norfolk.
“If Zack Polanski wants to tackle the climate crisis, he should start by telling his fellow Green Party politicians that actions speak louder than words,” a Labour spokesperson added.
“The Labour government will crack on with delivering these vital upgrades. The Greens should get on board.”
Burnham has said he wants all parts of the UK to take “greater public control” of the water sector, although he has stopped short of calling for all water companies in England to be fully renationalised.
He has suggested a new model for the sector could emulate Greater Manchester’s bus network, where private operators bid to run services on a franchise basis, with local authorities controlling fares, timetables and routes.
However, he is yet to spell out what an equivalent model for water would mean in practice.
