UK appoints new climate security envoy – here’s what she could change

By James Dyke, Assistant Director of the Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter

The UK government has just appointed Madeleine Alessandri as the world’s first special representative for climate security.

Prime minister Andy Burnham announced the new role in his speech at the UN climate summit, Cop31, in Turkey. This, he said, would be part of “a new era of British leadership on climate”. He also cited climate as “a national security issue” – a sign that Burnham considers this environmental crisis a significant risk to the country’s social stability and economy.

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