Burnham says climate consensus is over but promises new leadership

Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned at the COP31 climate summit in Turkey on Thursday that the consensus on science and climate change has "gone", and said the UK was ready to launch a "new era of British leadership" on the issue.

Environmental campaigners at the meeting said the prime minister must match his warm rhetoric with stronger action. In recent months the UK government has introduced measures that critics argue have weakened its green credentials, including cutting support for heat pumps, approving the Jackdaw gas field and reaffirming backing for Heathrow Airport's expansion.

Burnham began his address by referring to the extreme heat experienced across the UK this summer, describing it as "not normal". He noted that the Met Office said the heat was the hottest on record and 130 times more likely because of climate change, a spell that forced the closure of hundreds of schools, reduced cereal harvests by 11% and saw ambulance calls surge beyond levels seen during the Covid‑19 pandemic.

Citing the threat to health and homes, the prime minister announced the creation of the world's first climate security envoy, Dame Madeleine Alessandri. Alessandri, a former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, said: "Climate change and nature loss are increasingly shaping the security environment in which the UK operates." She added that this is "placing additional pressure on resources, economies and communities around the world".

The move is presented as a signal of the UK's priorities ahead of its G20 presidency next year, while the current president, the United States, has been largely absent from the COP process since President Trump withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement. Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, who warned two decades ago that climate change could cost up to 20% of global GDP, praised Burnham's remarks, stating: "The Prime Minister was right to identify climate change as a threat to security around the world, and the importance of investments in clean electricity generation as the best way of protecting households and businesses from the high prices and volatile markets for fossil fuels."