On the eve of a United Nations climate summit in Antalya, Britain has chosen to treat the warming planet less as a distant environmental concern and more as a question of survival and order at home. The appointment of Madeleine Alessandri, who chairs the body that oversees the country's intelligence services, signals that the state now counts climate breakdown among the threats it must anticipate, much as it once planned for war or pandemic. Yet the gesture sits uneasily beside a summer of heat, fire and strain that many citizens felt in their own bodies, and beside fossil fuel approvals and c
UK Names World's First Special Representative for Climate Security as Burnham Heads to Cop31
Summer heatwaves in the UK, the hottest on record, caused health service and transport strain, school closures and thousands of premature deaths; a flash flood struck Nepal in August.
Britain cannot preach clean development abroad while expanding fossil fuels at home
Mark
Why does it matter that the person named is the JIC chair?
Mimi
Because the JIC oversees MI5 and MI6. Alessandri already helped produce the report warning of food shortages, mass migration and conflict among nuclear-armed states. She's carrying that work into government advice.
Mark
And that report had a rocky history.
Mimi
It was suppressed under Keir Starmer. The Guardian revealed its contents last year, and a redacted version came out this year.
Luke
Worth being clear what's actually known. The five-year timeline is the report's warning, not an event. And the source doesn't say what powers or budget the role has.
Mark
So the title may be bigger than the mandate?
Luke
We can't tell from this reporting. It says the role is to advise No 10. Nothing about resources.
Mimi
The domestic record is what critics focus on. Jackdaw approved, Rosebank under consideration, electric vehicle targets possibly weakened.
Luke
Those are campaigners' framings of those decisions, though the decisions themselves are stated as facts. Same with Adow's double standards charge: it's his view.
Mark
And the money?
Mimi
Climate finance has been cut, and in July donations were turned into repayable loans to pay for lower bus fares. Prakash Dahal says Nepal needs grants after August's flash flood.
Luke
The summer deaths are described as thousands, but no precise count is given here.
O Pulso
- A secret intelligence assessment warned that collapsing ecosystems abroad could reach British security within five years, and its suppression has made the warning feel like a truth delayed.
- A record-breaking summer of heatwaves, wildfires and flooding strained hospitals, transport and schools, with thousands of premature deaths turning abstract risk into lived grief.
- The new special representative for climate security, a first anywhere in the world, is being positioned to spot dangers before they become crises, with Ed Miliband carrying the findings to foreign capitals.
- Campaigners are pressing hard, accusing the government of double standards over North Sea gas, Rosebank and weakened electric vehicle targets, and warning that its credibility is slipping.
- The unresolved question is whether the appointment will bring real money and policy change, especially for poorer nations like Nepal that want grants rather than loans.
On the eve of a United Nations climate summit in Antalya, Britain has chosen to treat the warming planet less as a distant environmental concern and more as a question of survival and order at home. The appointment of Madeleine Alessandri, who chairs the body that oversees the country's intelligence services, signals that the state now counts climate breakdown among the threats it must anticipate, much as it once planned for war or pandemic. Yet the gesture sits uneasily beside a summer of heat, fire and strain that many citizens felt in their own bodies, and beside fossil fuel approvals and cuts to climate aid that critics say contradict the words. Whether the role becomes a true instrument of foresight or remains a symbol of what was known too late will be measured in the choices that follow.
Prime minister Andy Burnham arrived in Antalya, Turkey, late on Wednesday for the Cop31 climate summit, where on Thursday he plans to announce something unprecedented: a special representative for climate security. The role goes to Madeleine Alessandri, who chairs the joint intelligence committee that oversees MI5 and MI6. Her task will be to warn No 10 about climate-driven national security risks before they grow into catastrophes. No other country has created such a post.
Burnham will frame the move around what Britain has just endured. This summer was the hottest on record, with back-to-back heatwaves that strained health services and transport, closed schools and contributed to thousands of premature deaths. He says the summer was not normal and that the climate crisis has arrived for everyone.
The appointment grows out of work Alessandri already led. Her committee contributed to a secret report warning that within five years the UK could feel security effects from collapsing ecosystems overseas, with food shortages, migration and conflict among nuclear-armed states among the dangers. The report was suppressed under Keir Starmer, and its contents only came to light through The Guardian and a later redacted release. Alessandri says the best time to act is before risks become crises. Ed Miliband, now foreign secretary, has been briefing capitals on the findings and insists that those who bury their heads in the sand put security at risk.
Campaigners remain unconvinced. They point to a possible weakening of electric vehicle targets, the approval of the Jackdaw gasfield and consideration of the Rosebank oilfield. Critics say Britain cannot preach clean development abroad while expanding fossil fuels at home. Finance is another flashpoint, as climate aid has been cut and redirected toward military spending. Nepal, still recovering from a deadly August flash flood, is among those insisting that support must arrive as grants, not loans, and framing its demand as one for justice rather than charity.
What happens next depends on whether the new role brings funding and policy change, and whether the warnings of the once-hidden report begin to shape decisions on energy and aid.
Prime minister Andy Burnham arrived late on Wednesday night in Antalya, Turkey, for Cop31, and on Thursday morning he will use the UN climate summit to announce a first of its kind: a special representative for climate security. The post goes to Madeleine Alessandri, chair of the joint intelligence committee, the body that oversees MI5 and MI6. Her job will be to advise No 10 on national security risks from the climate crisis before they become catastrophes.
The Guardian reports that the appointment is the strongest sign yet of official fears that climate breakdown will bring disorder to the UK. No other country has created such a role. Burnham will tie the move to what the country lived through this year. In his prepared remarks he says the summer was not normal and that the climate crisis is now upon everyone, pointing to wildfires that devastated lives and livelihoods.
The summer was the hottest on record in the UK, with back-to-back heatwaves made more intense by the climate crisis. Health services and transport struggled, schools closed, and thousands of people died prematurely.
Alessandri's new brief grows out of work she already oversaw. Under her chairmanship, the JIC contributed to a secret report warning that within five years the UK could start to feel national security effects from the collapse of ecosystems overseas, driven by the climate crisis and overexploitation of the natural world. The impacts it listed included food shortages, higher food prices, mass migration and conflict among nuclear-armed countries. The report was suppressed under former prime minister Keir Starmer. The Guardian revealed its contents last year, and a redacted version was published earlier this year.
Dame Madeleine said climate change and nature loss increasingly shape the security environment in which the UK operates, adding pressure on resources, economies and communities worldwide. The best time to deal with those risks, she said, is before they turn into crises, and she will work with partners across government and internationally to improve understanding of the threats and build resilience. Ed Miliband, now foreign secretary, has been briefing foreign capitals on the JIC findings and is also at the summit. He called national security the next frontier of climate action and said that scenarios once confined to science fiction now appear regularly in the news. Those who put their heads in the sand, he said, are putting national security at risk.
Burnham will also say Britain remains committed to net zero by 2050, and that the consensus on science and climate action has broken down. He will confirm UK backing for a proposed target of 35% electrification by 2035 and support for plans to raise £5bn in private finance for clean energy projects worldwide. Turkey and Australia jointly preside over the talks.
Campaigners are not persuaded. They point to the government mulling a major weakening of electric vehicle targets, approval of the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, and consideration of a new oilfield, Rosebank, west of Shetland. Mohamed Adow of the Power Shift Africa thinktank described double standards: Britain cannot preach clean development abroad while expanding fossil fuels at home. Asad Rehman of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland said the UK's credibility was crumbling.
Finance is the other sore point. Like many wealthy nations, the UK has cut climate finance sharply, redirecting money toward military spending. In July Burnham fronted a pledge to lower the cap on bus fares, paid for by turning international climate donations into repayable loans. Prakash Dahal of Pro Public and Friends of the Earth Nepal said his country needs money to adapt and to recover from disasters such as August's catastrophic flash flood, and that it must come as grants, not loans. Nepal, he said, is demanding justice, not asking for charity.
What to watch is whether the new representative's role leads to funding and policy change, and how the warnings in the once-suppressed JIC report shape decisions on oil, gas and climate aid.
Citações Notáveis
The best time to address these risks is before they develop into crises.— Dame Madeleine Alessandri
Nepal is not asking for charity. Nepal is demanding justice.— Prakash Dahal, Pro Public and Friends of the Earth Nepal
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Leia o original em The Guardian ↗