UK appoints climate security envoy as island nations warn of existential climate crisis at UN summit

ANTALYA, Turkey — The United Kingdom unveiled a new special envoy on Thursday to address the security implications of climate change, as leaders of small island nations gathered at the climate summit in Antalya urged immediate action, warning that the crisis threatens the very existence of their peoples.

“It is time to move past the talking,” said Alix Sebastien Pillay, vice president of the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles. “For Seychelles, climate action is not simply an environmental priority. It is a fundamental issue to our national security, economic stability, sustainable development and our very survival.”

Pillay’s remarks came on the second day of the UN climate summit, where world leaders deliberated on the deteriorating state of the planet and possible responses. While every region faces heightened risks from intensified storms, extreme heat, severe droughts, and flooding, island nations confront the additional peril of rising sea levels that threaten to submerge their territories.

He noted that Seychelles has suffered millions of dollars in damages from storms and floods, a situation exacerbated by climate change, even though the island nation emits minimal greenhouse gases.

He called for urgent reinforcement of the UN’s loss‑and‑damage fund, warning that climate recovery should not undermine development efforts or plunge vulnerable countries into deeper debt.

Dalton Tagelagi, Prime Minister of Niue, highlighted the current El Niño‑driven temperature rise as a harbinger of worse outcomes if global warming remains unchecked. “Sea temperatures in the central Pacific are over three degrees above normal,” he warned. “This is a clear signal that emissions must be reduced now.”

His warning aligns with a new report indicating that global warming has not been curbed over the past five years, as planned initiatives were not implemented and beneficial efforts were offset by counterproductive actions.

The independent Climate Action Tracker reported that aggregated climate action has effectively plateaued for five years, with gains offset by setbacks. In the five years following the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world managed to reduce projected warming by a full degree Celsius (1.8 °F), but progress has stalled since then.

Climate change is primarily driven by greenhouse‑gas emissions generated from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Addressing the crisis requires rapid and deep reductions in annual emissions. Nations outline these reductions in documents known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), with the pace and methods of implementation varying widely.

However, the combined national efforts have not curbed global emissions sufficiently, and the planet is now on track for an irreversible overshoot of 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above pre‑industrial levels—the limit set by the Paris Agreement, the report warns.

If all countries were to honor their climate pledges—a highly uncertain scenario—the world would still experience a temperature rise of 2.6 °C (4.7 °F) by the end of the century relative to pre‑industrial levels.

This trajectory mirrors the warming pace observed in 2024–2025, indicating that the new commitments made last year have not altered the projected warming trend, according to lead author Sarah Heck, a climate policy analyst at Climate Analytics.

“These figures are still insufficient,” Heck observed. “Countries must urgently strengthen their climate targets.”

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the appointment of a special representative to address security risks stemming from the climate crisis, marking one of the first such initiatives globally.

“Climate is a national security issue,” Burnham declared at the summit. “The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is upon us now, devastating lives and livelihoods across the globe.”

He announced that Britain will prioritize climate resilience on the agenda when it assumes the G20 presidency next year.

The appointment of Madeleine Alessandri as the special representative for climate security follows a British government assessment earlier this year, which warned that ecosystem degradation—partly driven by climate change—could jeopardize food supplies and exacerbate conflict and migration, given the UK’s reliance on imported food for about 40 % of its needs.

According to the United Nations, climate change amplifies security risks globally by intensifying food and water scarcity, displacing communities, and heightening pre‑existing tensions.

“The future we once feared is now our reality,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “Climate change respects no borders, and no nation can confront it alone. Solidarity must translate into concrete action.”

Sharif, echoing concerns from leaders of climate‑impacted nations, stressed the need for sufficient financing to manage climate disasters. He pointed to the 2022 floods in Pakistan, which inundated over a third of the country, caused thousands of deaths, and inflicted more than $30 billion in damage.

Only a day earlier, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine had described expanding fossil‑fuel development as “something to fear.”

“Every new oil well drilled and every ton of coal extracted poses a threat to my country’s future,” Heine warned. “No one has the right to pollute their neighbors.”

She recounted seeing coral reefs shift from “bright and lush” to stark white due to bleaching this year. Heine cautioned that unless the world responds with overwhelming urgency to the now‑inevitable breach of the 1.5 °C warming limit, “the world we know will be over.”

To effectively combat climate change, the wealthiest nations must move beyond promises and deliver substantial financial support to poorer countries, enabling them to recover from climate damage and adapt to a warming planet, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley argued on Wednesday.

“Pledges are not payments,” Mottley told fellow leaders. “Yet even those pledged amounts are now 70 % below prior commitments. The applause here may sound reassuring, but let us be clear—no home has ever been rebuilt by applause alone.”

Webber reported from Chicago, Borenstein from Kensington, Maryland, and Arasu from Bengaluru, India.

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