Andy Burnham has been urged to go further to tackle climate change after he told the UN COP31 summit that it is a “national security issue”.
Attending the annual conference for the first time in his capacity as prime minister, Mr Burnham issued a stark warning over the issue, outlining how the climate crisis is “upon all of us now” and “devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere”.
But amid accusations that his government is deprioritising the green agenda, campaigners said the prime minister must do more to bridge the “widening chasm between words and deeds”.
Pledging a “new era of British leadership”, he told the gathering in Turkey: “The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is upon us all now, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere.
“Meanwhile, two wars across two continents have sent fuel prices and gas bills soaring for families and businesses across the world. The common thread running through all of this: our dependence on fossil fuels.
“The message I carry here at my COP as UK prime minister is this: we’re committed to meeting our 2050 net zero target, and committed to working with all of our partners to reach theirs.”
But climate campaign group Greenpeace said the imminent decision on the Rosebank oil field and speculation about the watering down of electric vehicle mandates threaten to “drown out” the prime minister, who also confirmed the UK is committed to meeting its 2050 net zero target.
“Andy Burnham’s COP speech hit the right notes, but the noises off stage about a massive new oil field and laxer rules on electric cars almost drowned him out,” Greenpeace UK head of politics Ami McCarthy said.
They added: “There are so many elephants in the room you’d think it’s a zoo. Burnham needs to start bridging the widening chasm between words and deeds on climate action.
“The choices he makes over the coming weeks and months will decide if his speech today was more than hot air.”
Downing Street has defended Mr Burnham’s attendance at the summit amid questions about whether the trip was a good use of time.
Asked whether the prime minister thinks it was worth travelling to Turkey to deliver a short speech to a half-empty room, a No 10 spokesperson said: “So, obviously, the prime minister delivered his speech at COP this morning, where he said we are committed to meeting our 2050 net zero target and committed to working with all of our partners to reach theirs.”
Pressed on whether that meant No 10 thought it was a good use of time, she said: “Absolutely.”
Climate campaign group Zero Hour said Mr Burnham risked a “do as I say, not as I do” approach on climate diplomacy.
“The PM’s speech said all the right things. But set it against his actions back at home, from drilling more gas to potentially watering down the ZEV mandate, and it’s hard not to just hear a return to ‘do as I say, not as I do’ climate diplomacy,” Zero Hour’s co-executive director Dr Amy McDonnell said.
“He’s right, climate security is national security. But once you recognise that, you have to act like it.”
The gathering takes place against a backdrop of rising global oil and gas prices triggered by conflict in Iran, which has forced countries to re-evaluate energy strategies.
Questions over Mr Burnham’s environmental commitment have grown amid reports ministers are considering reducing electric vehicle sales targets by roughly a quarter.
Government approval of the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea has also drawn sharp criticism from campaigners, who are urging the administration to block the even larger Rosebank oil project.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused the prime minister of being “all mouth and no trousers” after Thursday’s speech.
“The gap between Burnham's words and his actions opened up another mile with his speech at COP this morning,” he said.
“He talked about the importance of reaching net zero when his government just approved new fossil fuel drilling in the north sea.
“He talked about electric vehicles bringing down costs while he’s expected to lower the electric vehicle mandate, a cut which will cost drivers £4.5bn while handing £450m to fossil fuel giants. And he talked about using tech like heat pumps to lower bills, just weeks after slashing funding for households to install them.
“This prime minister is all mouth and no trousers, and no more so than on climate action. Burnham simply can’t be trusted to deliver the bold action we need to bring down bills and secure a liveable future.”
Meanwhile, Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said the speech marked “another set of announcements that give the veneer of climate action” but lack concrete change.
“The prime minister’s first climate talks should be an opportunity to demonstrate he means business,” he said.
“But if this is all the UK has to offer, then the questions piling in about his climate credibility are more than justified. Committing to real, grant-based climate finance, rejecting the Rosebank oil field and saying no to a third runway at Heathrow are just some of the ways he can put the UK on track.”
Mr Burnham is expected to be the only G7 leader to address the summit in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, with US president Donald Trump declining to send a delegation for the second year running.
China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi, whose countries rank among the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, are also absent from the summit.
He was the first speaker at the conference on Thursday, addressing a half-empty plenary hall at the start of the session with foreign secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Lord Sadiq Khan in the audience.
He also appointed a climate security envoy to prioritise the identification of climate risks as a matter of national security.
Dame Madeleine Alessandri, chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, will also be tasked with strengthening international partnerships over climate issues.
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