Key facts
- Burnham said the UK is committed to its 2050 net-zero target and to helping partners reach theirs.
- He announced Dame Madeline Alessandri as the first UK special representative for climate security.
- The UK backed the Amplify program, which aims to secure 5 billion pounds of private finance for clean energy projects.
- Burnham said the UK will put climate resilience on the G20 agenda when it takes the presidency next year.
- He did not back a specific target of 35% of global energy use from electricity by 2035, POLITICO reported.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey on November 12, 2026 that Britain is committed to meeting its 2050 net-zero target and to working with partners to reach theirs. He said the climate crisis "is not a distant threat" and "is upon us all now," and tied fossil fuel dependence to higher fuel prices and gas bills during two wars across two continents.
Burnham said he spent his first three weeks as prime minister responding to the worst wildfires Britain has experienced. He said the UK gave the green light to two offshore wind projects on November 11, 2026, which he said will bring billions of investment and support thousands of jobs, and cited a government-funded electric arc furnace in South Wales that he said will secure 5,000 steel workers' jobs.
He announced the appointment of Dame Madeline Alessandri as the first UK special representative for climate security, and UK support for the Amplify program, which he said will aim to secure 5 billion pounds of new private finance for clean energy projects around the world. He said the UK will use its G20 presidency next year to put climate resilience back on the agenda, with debt, development and insurance as key issues.
Burnham urged industry to help people on all incomes make the green transition, saying electric cars and heat pumps are becoming cheaper but are not available to everybody. POLITICO reported that he stopped short of backing a specific target of 35% of global energy use shifting to electricity by 2035, and that his government cut the subsidy pot for heat pumps at last month's budget and is weighing proposals to water down industry EV quotas.