UK government delays release of climate-security report while appointing adviser amid mounting climate warnings
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a climate-security adviser at COP31, but the government still refuses to publish the classified report on ecosystem collapse and its security implications, drawing criticism from environmental groups.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham used his speech at the COP31 climate summit in Turkey to restate the United Kingdom’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050 and to announce the appointment of Madeleine Alessandri as a climate-security adviser. Alessandri, a former head of the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee, oversaw a classified report that links ecosystem collapse – including the Amazon rainforest – to threats such as food shortages, price spikes, mass migration and potential conflict.
The report, which had been due for release at last year’s COP26, was withheld by the previous government and remains secret despite a redacted version being leaked earlier this year. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has briefed foreign governments on its findings, and Burnham said the document helped shape his decision to create the new advisory role.
“The message I carry here, in my first COP as prime minister, is that the UK remains determined to reach net zero by 2050 and to work with our partners to build a clean energy future,” Burnham told delegates.
He added that dependence on imported energy leaves the UK exposed to price volatility and that electrification is central to energy security. Burnham pointed to lower operating costs for electric cars and heat pumps compared with petrol vehicles and gas boilers.
Critics say the government has still not published the full report and that Burnham does not have a dedicated climate adviser in Downing Street. Environmental groups and some senior officials have raised alarm that other policy decisions – such as approval of the Jackdaw gasfield, reduced funding for heat pumps and consideration of the Rosebank oilfield – could weaken climate commitments.
Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, Ami McCarthy, said the prime minister’s speech “hit the right notes” but warned that “noises offstage about a massive new oilfield and looser rules on electric cars” could dilute its impact.
Burnham also met with International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol, who praised the prime minister’s commitment to UK electrification.
The government was contacted for comment but did not respond.