UK names world's first special representative for climate security at COP31

A new role at the climate talks

Andy Burnham announced on Thursday, 12 November, that the UK is creating a special representative for climate security, a post the government presents as a world first. The role goes to Madeleine Alessandri, previously chair of the joint intelligence committee, which oversees MI5 and MI6. The appointee will advise the government on national security risks linked to the climate crisis before they turn into catastrophes. A statement from the prime minister's office said the role will strengthen the UK's international partnerships on climate security and ensure that climate and nature risks are factored into foreign and national security policy. The announcement came at the COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, which is co-presided over by Turkey and Australia.

Burnham's message to the summit

Burnham told the talks that the climate crisis is not a distant threat, pointing to a summer he called not normal, marked by extreme heat, wildfires and drought. He said he had spent the start of his premiership dealing with the worst wildfires in UK history. This year's summer was the UK's hottest on record, with back-to-back heatwaves that caused health services and transport to suffer and schools to close. Burnham also cast the issue as one of security.

“The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is upon us all now, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere.”

He described climate change as a national security issue and was one of two G7 leaders at the event, alongside European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. He reaffirmed the UK's target of net zero emissions by 2050 and said the country would work with other nations to reach theirs.

Affordability and criticism at home

Burnham tied the green transition to household costs. He said a new electric car in the UK costs less than a petrol equivalent and that a heat pump on the right tariff can be cheaper to run than a gas boiler, but he stressed that these technologies are not yet within everyone's reach.

“These technologies are becoming cheaper, but they are not available to everybody on all incomes.”

He called on industry to play its part in helping people on all incomes make the transition. Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, reacted to the speech.

“The prime minister's first climate talks should be an opportunity to demonstrate he means business.”

The criticism follows government approval of the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, and campaigners are urging the government to block the larger Rosebank oil project. On Wednesday, 11 November, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, pressed Burnham on Rosebank during Commons question time, and he said the decision would be taken in due course. Reports say ministers are considering reducing electric vehicle sales targets by roughly a quarter.

Finance and electrification targets

Before the trip, Burnham welcomed a £12 billion investment in offshore wind farms off the Norfolk coast, of which £1 billion comes from the state-backed National Wealth Fund. At the talks he was due to confirm UK support for a proposed target of 35% electrification by 2035. He was also set to help plans to raise £5bn in private finance for clean energy projects across the world. The co-hosts, Turkey and Australia, have focused the talks on a pledge to boost electrification.

Timeline and attendance

Burnham arrived in Antalya late on Wednesday, 11 November, before joining scores of heads of state and government for a series of high-level meetings. He addressed the talks on Thursday morning, 12 November, and the special representative appointment was announced that day.

The talks are presided over jointly by Turkey and Australia. US President Donald Trump declined to send a delegation for the second year running. China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi are also absent, although their countries rank among the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.