British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced the appointment of a special envoy focused on “climate security”, a world first, to better prepare for the growing impacts of global warming.
Burnham pledged a “new era of British leadership” on climate over the next decade, telling world leaders at the ongoing 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) summit in Antalya, Türkiye.
“I am today announcing the appointment of Dame Madeline Alessandri as the first UK special representative for climate security.
“We know also that the transition must be paid for and here the UK is uniquely placed to help,” he said.
Delivering his first COP speech as prime minister, Burnham said the UK was “committed to meeting our 2050 net zero target and committed to working with all of our partners to reach theirs”.
In a speech posted on the UK Gov website, the Labour leader recalled that he spent his first three weeks as prime minister this past summer responding to the worst wildfires Britain ever experienced.
“I decided then it was important for me to be here to show British leadership in a world where climate issues have taken too much of a backseat.
“The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is upon us all now, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere.”
The PM said two wars across two continents had sent fuel prices and gas bills soaring for families and businesses across the world.
“The message I carry here at my first COP as UK Prime Minister is this. We’re committed to meeting our 2050 net zero target and committed to working with all of our partners to reach theirs.
“In that spirit, I am proud to support this COP’s focus on electrification. It matters for three reasons.
“First, for achieving energy security. It is now plain for everyone to see that if we depend on energy we do not control, then we leave ourselves exposed to prices we cannot control.
“The shift to clean energy is the only route to energy security. Electrification is how we protect families from global fossil fuel shocks,’’ he said.
According to him, the UK gave the green light to two major offshore wind projects that will bring billions in investment, power millions of homes, and support thousands of jobs.
The PM said a government-funded electric arc furnace in South Wales, one of the largest in Europe, would secure 5,000 jobs for steelworkers.
“And Rolls-Royce is taking small modular nuclear reactor technology around the world, supporting thousands more.
“The last of these meetings I attended was COP26 as the Mayor of Greater Manchester.”
Burnham said in the five years since, the country had not moved as quickly as it had hoped and that the world felt very different now and needed to adapt.
“Electrification in transport, heat and industry is how we make clean power cheap power.
“If you drive a new electric car today in the UK, it costs less than a petrol equivalent. Get on the right tariff and a heat pump can be cheaper to run than a gas boiler.
“These technologies are becoming cheaper, but they are not available to everybody on all incomes.”
“As a government, Burnham said UK is doing its best by investing in innovation and subsidising upfront costs for the public.
“But we need industry to play their part too and help people on all incomes to make the green transition,’’ he said.
As the UK takes up the presidency of the G20 in 2027, Burnham said the country would put climate resilience back on the agenda, with debt, development and insurance as key issues.
“We recognise that the work at this COP is about the future of our natural world too and the condition in which we pass it on to the next generation.
“And the UK will proudly maintain its support to preserve tropical forests and oceans, helping nations protect these precious ecosystems for the benefit of all people,’’ he said. (NAN)
