Burnham tells Cop31 UK is committed to 2050 net zero and names climate security envoy

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told world leaders at the Cop31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, that Britain is committed to meeting its 2050 net zero target and working with other countries to reach theirs. He called the climate crisis a national security issue, the Mirror and the Evening Standard reported.

It was Burnham’s first Cop as prime minister. He argued that fuel prices and gas bills have soared because of the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, and promised a new era of British leadership.

What Burnham said

Burnham said the summer was not normal, pointing to the worst wildfires Britain has ever experienced, which he said he spent his first three weeks in office responding to. The Mirror reported that it was the UK’s hottest summer on record, with back-to-back heatwaves disrupting transport and hospitals and closing schools.

He said the world will breach 1.5C of warming and that the consensus on climate science has gone, making leadership more urgent. He said Britain was back and ready to play its full part. According to the Mirror, he also criticised the Conservatives for abandoning their climate commitments.

New envoy and electrification plans

Burnham announced that Dame Madeleine Alessandri, a former chairwoman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, will become the first UK special representative for climate security. The Evening Standard said her role will focus on strengthening international partnerships and treating climate and nature risks as national security matters, identifying them before they become crises.

He also endorsed Turkey’s pledge to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from 21% to 35% by 2035. Electrification, Burnham said, protects families from global fossil fuel shocks, creates good jobs and lowers bills. The government will publish a clean electrification road map setting out plans for affordable and secure energy systems.

The speech came hours after Burnham welcomed a £12billion investment in wind farms off the Norfolk coast, which he described as great for billpayers. The Mirror said construction is due to begin early next year.

A short stay in Turkey

The Evening Standard reported that Burnham is expected to be the only G7 leader to address the summit, with US President Donald Trump declining to send a delegation for the second year running. He spoke first to a half-empty plenary hall, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Lord Sadiq Khan in the audience.

Burnham spent just over an hour at the venue, giving a five-minute speech, before flying to Dublin for a gathering of some 50 European leaders. A planned meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was cancelled because of time pressure.

What this means for people in the UK

The pledge keeps the 2050 net zero target in place at a time when the prime minister links high household energy costs to fossil fuel dependence. The planned electrification road map and the Norfolk wind farm investment are the government’s main answers on bills so far, though the sources give no detail on timing or cost for households.

What happens next

In Dublin, Burnham is expected to announce further sanctions against Russia and discuss hybrid threats to European security. The meeting follows his reopening of the debate about Britain’s relationship with the bloc, and comes ahead of the UK-EU reset summit in Brussels next Friday.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Mirror, Evening Standard

Cover photo: Necati Savas / European Union, 2026 / EC - Audiovisual Servi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped

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