The UK has appointed the world's first special representative for climate security. Dame Madeleine Alessandri, the former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), will take up the new role, which the government announced on Wednesday 11 November as Prime Minister Andy Burnham prepared to address the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.

The appointment is a first: no other country has created a dedicated climate security envoy. The role treats climate change not only as an environmental issue, but as a national security issue.

What will the special representative for climate security do?

The special representative will advise Downing Street on the national security risks that flow from the climate crisis, with the aim of identifying risks before they develop into crises. Her brief covers strengthening international partnerships and making sure climate and nature risks are treated as a matter of national security.

That work draws directly on her previous job. As chair of the JIC, Alessandri led the committee that provides ministers with national security assessments, synthesising intelligence from across the security services. A JIC assessment prepared under her leadership warned that the UK could begin experiencing national security consequences within five years as overseas ecosystems collapse under climate change and overexploitation of natural resources, with effects on food supplies, migration and international security.

Why has the role been created now?

Announcing the appointment, Burnham said the world should recognise that the summer just gone "was not normal", adding: "The climate crisis is upon all of us now. We saw that with the wildfires that devastated lives and livelihoods everywhere." He warned that the global consensus on tackling the crisis has broken down, and pledged a "new era of British leadership" on climate action.

The Prime Minister, who landed in Antalya on Wednesday evening, was expected to be the only G7 leader to address the summit, with the United States declining to send a delegation for a second year running. He also reaffirmed the UK's commitment to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

How is this different from the UK's other climate envoys?

The UK already has a special representative for climate, Rachel Kyte, and one for nature, Ruth Davis. Those roles focus on diplomacy and environmental policy. The new climate security role is different: it sits at the intersection of climate and national security, and its holder comes from the intelligence world rather than the climate world. It is the security lens on the same crisis.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Dame Madeleine Alessandri? She is a former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, the body at the top of the UK's intelligence architecture, and a former senior official in the Foreign Office and Cabinet Office.

Is this really a world first? Yes. The UK government described the appointment as the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and no other government has created an equivalent role.

Sources: Reuters; The Oldham Times.