Andy Burnham’s faces pressure to sack ‘climate tsar’ who has racked up enough air miles to get to the Moon
Andy Burnham is facing calls to sack Rachel Kyte, the UK's climate tsar, after it emerged she has clocked up 250,000 air miles on official business in under two years, enough to travel to the Moon. Conservative MP Greg Smith branded her "jet-setting lifestyle" a "slap in the face to taxpayers" and urged Burnham to either dismiss her or scrap the role entirely, arguing that frequent business-class trips to climate conferences abroad sit awkwardly with her environmental brief.
Freedom of Information requests show Kyte's flights, including trips to Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Barbados, Colombia and the Republic of Congo, have cost taxpayers £107,000 excluding hotels, with more than £31,000 spent on over 20 flights this year alone. Campaigners estimate the travel generated around 100 tonnes of CO2, ten times an average person's annual footprint. The £130,000-a-year role was revived by Labour after the Conservatives abolished it in 2023, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has defended the spending as "cost-effective" and in taxpayers' interests.
- Climate tsar Rachel Kyte flew 250,000 miles in under two years
- Trips cost taxpayers £107,000, prompting calls for her sacking
- FCDO defends spending as necessary for international climate diplomacy
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of dismissal argue that a senior climate official must meet especially high standards because their credibility is integral to persuading institutions and the public to reduce emissions. If extensive flying was avoidable, retaining the official could suggest that climate commitments are applied differently to leaders than to everyone else, weakening trust and accountability. They may also argue that replacing the official would demonstrate that practical alternatives to unnecessary air travel are being taken seriously.
The case against
Opponents of dismissal argue that mileage alone is insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, particularly without a clear record of the flights, their purpose, timing, alternatives or whether they were undertaken for essential public work. A climate role can require travel to secure investment, coordinate policy and represent a region, while the emissions impact should be judged alongside the benefits achieved and any efforts to reduce or offset it. They may contend that a fair response is transparent disclosure and stronger travel rules, rather than punishment based on a headline figure.
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