British prime minister Andy Burnham said climate is a national security issue. (EPA Images pic)ANTALYA: British prime minister Andy Burnham announced on Thursday the appointment of a special envoy focused on "climate security", a world first, to better prepare for the growing impacts of global warming.

In a speech to the UN's COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, the Labour leader recalled that he spent his first three weeks as prime minister this past summer responding to the worst wildfires Britain ever experienced.

"I decided then it was important for me to be here to show British leadership in a world where climate issues have taken too much of a backseat," said Burnham, who was the only G7 leader attending the summit.