UK appoints Madeleine Alessandri as special representative for climate security

The UK government has appointed Madeleine Alessandri as special representative for climate security, a role described by The Guardian as the world’s first of its kind. Prime Minister Andy Burnham will announce the appointment on Thursday at Cop31, the UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.

Alessandri, chair of the UK’s joint intelligence committee (JIC), which oversees MI5 and MI6, will advise the government on national security risks from the climate crisis before they develop into catastrophe.

Burnham will tell the climate talks: “We should all recognise the summer was not normal. The climate crisis is upon all of us now. We saw that with the wildfires that devastated lives and livelihoods everywhere.”

He will also say: “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. The world has changed. The consensus we once enjoyed on science and climate action has broken down.”

At Cop31, Burnham will confirm UK support for a proposed target of 35% electrification by 2035 and help towards plans to raise £5bn in private finance for clean energy projects across the world.

Dame Madeleine Alessandri said: “Climate change and nature loss are increasingly shaping the security environment in which the UK operates, placing additional pressure on resources, economies and communities around the world.”

She added: “The best time to address these risks is before they develop into crises. In this role, I will work with partners across government and internationally to strengthen our understanding of climate threats, build resilience and ensure we are better prepared for the challenges ahead.”

The JIC, with Alessandri’s participation, prepared a classified report warning that within five years the UK could begin experiencing national security impacts from the collapse of ecosystems overseas, driven by the climate crisis and overexploitation of the living world. These impacts included food shortages, rising food prices, mass migration and conflict among nuclear-armed countries.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Guardian: “National security is the next frontier of the fight for climate action – the scenarios once of science fiction are now regular occurrences in the daily news.”

He added: “Climate breakdown is one of the greatest national security threats we face: food security, threats to infrastructure and population movements [are resulting from the climate crisis].”

Campaigners criticised the government’s climate record. Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, told the Guardian: “What we’re seeing in part is double standards,” Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, told the Guardian. “We can’t have Britain preaching a clean development gospel but expanding fossil fuels back at home. You cannot expect one set of rules for Africa and another for Britain.”

Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said the UK’s credibility was “crumbling.”

Sources

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