Prime Minister Andy Burnham has reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, promising a decade of renewed climate leadership amid accusations that his Government is giving the green agenda less priority.

Addressing the UN COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Thursday, he pledged to help other countries meet their climate goals and announced Dame Madeleine Alessandri as special representative for climate security.

His argument linked climate action to the pressures already facing households and businesses. After a summer of extreme heat, wildfires and drought, which he described as “not normal”, Burnham said the threat was immediate.

“The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is upon us all now, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere,” he said.

He also argued that two wars across two continents had driven up fuel prices and gas bills worldwide, identifying dependence on fossil fuels as the connection between energy insecurity and the climate crisis. That presents the green transition as a response to economic vulnerability as well as environmental damage.

Burnham was attending the annual gathering for the first time as Prime Minister and was expected to be the only G7 leader to address it. US President Donald Trump declined to send a delegation for the second consecutive year.

The Prime Minister spoke first on Thursday to a half-empty plenary hall, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Lord Sadiq Khan in the audience.

“Britain will live up to its commitments. We will help our friends as they live up to theirs. Britain is back and ready to play its full part,” he said.

Alessandri previously chaired the Joint Intelligence Committee, which provides ministers with national security assessments. Her appointment gives a concrete institutional element to his promise of closer international work on climate security.

Burnham said the previous consensus on science and climate had gone and asserted that the world would reach 1.5 degrees, making action more urgent. He called on industry leaders to help people across all income levels make the green transition.

The 2050 deadline is a renewed commitment, not a new target. Alongside international co-operation, the practical challenge identified in his speech is ensuring that people can afford the transition he is asking industry to help deliver.