Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told the COP31 climate summit that Britain is back and ready to play its full part in tackling climate change, recommitting the United Kingdom to reaching net zero by 2050.

Mr Burnham addressed the summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Thursday 12 November, his first COP as prime minister and the first time he has spoken at the gathering since attending COP26 as Mayor of Greater Manchester. He was the first speaker at the conference and is expected to be the only leader from a G7 country to address it, after the United States declined to send a delegation for a second year running.

"The message I carry here at my first 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," he said. He promised "a new era of British leadership" on climate over the next decade, warning that "the climate crisis is upon all of us now" after what he called a "not normal" summer of extreme heat, wildfires and drought.

Wildfires shaped the prime minister's first weeks

Mr Burnham said he spent his first three weeks as prime minister responding to the worst wildfires Britain has ever experienced, and that the experience convinced him of the importance of showing British leadership in person at the summit. The speech was delivered against a backdrop of criticism at home that his government has been deprioritising the green agenda, after the approval of drilling at the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, described the prime minister's remarks as "bizarre" and said he was "not at all reassured" by what he had heard, pointing to the Jackdaw decision by Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

New climate security role and clean energy finance

In the speech, Mr Burnham announced the appointment of Dame Madeline Alessandri, the former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, as the UK's first special representative for climate security. He also announced UK support for the Amplify programme, which aims to secure £5 billion of new private finance for clean energy projects around the world.

He pointed to the government's decision on Wednesday to give the green light to two major offshore wind projects, part of a £12 billion investment from the German energy company RWE and the US private equity firm KKR for a scheme off the Norfolk coast. The projects, he said, would bring billions of pounds of investment, power millions of homes and support thousands of jobs.

Looking ahead, Mr Burnham said that as the UK takes up the presidency of the G20 next year, it will put climate resilience back on the agenda, with debt, development and insurance as key issues. Read the full text of the Burnham COP31 speech on GOV.UK.

What happens next

Mr Burnham is also expected to attend the European Political Community meeting, where further sanctions against Russia and hybrid threats to European security are on the agenda. The COP31 talks in Antalya continue through the week, with negotiators working on climate finance, emissions targets and support for developing countries.

Whether the speech marks a genuine reset or a rhetorical one will be judged on delivery. The net zero commitment is unchanged, but the government now has to show that the wind investment, the new climate security role and the clean energy finance pledges add up to the leadership Mr Burnham promised in Antalya.