Andy Burnham has said "Britain is back and ready to play its full part" in tackling climate change in a "new era" of leadership over the next decade, as he addressed the United Nations COP31 summit in Turkey on Thursday.
Amid accusations that his government is deprioritising the green agenda, the prime minister recommitted to hitting the 2050 net zero target and to working with other countries to reach theirs. "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," he said.
Attending the annual climate gathering for the first time as prime minister, Burnham warned that the "climate crisis is upon all of us now" after a "not normal" summer of extreme heat, wildfires and drought. "Meanwhile, two wars across two continents have sent fuel prices and gas bills soaring for families and businesses across the world. The common thread running through all of this: our dependence on fossil fuels," he said.
"The consensus we once enjoyed on science and climate has gone, and the reality is now the world will reach 1.5 degrees," Burnham said, adding that climate leadership and action have become more urgent and that "climate is a national security issue." He announced that Madeleine Alessandri, former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, has been appointed special representative for climate security.
Burnham also endorsed host nation Turkey's pledge to increase the share of global energy demand met by electricity from 21 percent to 35 percent by 2035, saying electrification "is how we protect families from global fossil fuel shocks", creates good jobs and "lowers people's bills". The government will publish a clean electrification road map setting out its plans to build affordable and secure energy systems.
Burnham is expected to be the only G7 leader to address the summit in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, with President Donald Trump declining to send a delegation for the second year running. He was the first speaker at the conference on Thursday, addressing a half-empty plenary hall with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the audience. He spent just over an hour at the venue to deliver his five-minute speech before flying to Dublin for a gathering of some 50 European leaders, with a planned bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called off for time reasons.
