Extreme climate menace ‘worse than terrorism’ as floods and heatwaves surge

Climate change is a bigger threat to the world than terrorism, the Foreign Secretary has warned.

David Lammy said the dangers were “more fundamental” and “pervasive” than an “imperialist autocrat” as he spoke about the global effects of extreme weather. The Labour minister vowed to move the conversation away from scientists, experts and talk of temperature and focus on the impact of the “climate emergency” on real people’s lives.

In his first set piece speech as Foreign Secretary, he listed floods, heatwaves, hurricanes and famine that have destroyed communities as he painted a picture of a crisis that cannot be ignored. He said pandemics were set to become “more likely” and extreme weather was set to uproot millions of people, worsening the worldwide migrant crisis.

Mr Lammy admitted his time at the Foreign Office had so far been “dominated” by Putin’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. Speaking about climate change, he said: “The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat. But it is more fundamental. It is systemic. Pervasive. And accelerating towards us.”

He said the UK must use “all levers at our disposal” to tackle the climate crisis as he outlined the Government’s plan to create a global clean power alliance. “Time and time again, it is the most vulnerable who bear the brunt of the crisis,” he said.

In a blistering attack, Mr Lammy branded the Tories “climate dinosaurs” and said something went “badly wrong” under the former government. He described the previous administration as a “fossil fuel government” as he vowed to reset the narrative under Labour.

He took aim at Rishi Sunak rolling back commitments to Net Zero, after the ex-PM watered down targets to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and gas boilers. “Net zero became, under the Tories, a battleground. A battleground of the worst type of narrow-minded Westminster tactical warfare,” Mr Lammy added.

Speaking at Kew Gardens, the Foreign Secretary said: “I’m committing to you that while I am Foreign Secretary, action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all that the Foreign Office does.

“This is critical, given the scale of the threat, but also the scale of the opportunity, the chance to achieve clean and secure energy, lower bills, and drive growth for the UK, and to preserve the natural world around us, on which all prosperity ultimately depends.”

He confirmed he will be reinstating the UK Special Representative for Climate Change role and will create a new UK Special Representative for Nature. He also announced new programme of research focusing on nature and water is to be set up.

Hannah Bond, Co-CEO at ActionAid UK, welcomed Mr Lammy’s speech but said the government “cannot ignore the scale of the funding needed to match its ambitions – one it must not and cannot afford to shy away from”. “The destruction caused by recent hurricanes and floods in the Caribbean and Bangladesh underscores why major polluters like the UK need to urgently and rapidly scale up climate funding,” she said. “For too long, previous governments have chosen penny-pinching and inaction over the future of our planet – it’s time for that record to change. “

In a separate speech in London, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband promised to “take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists” to build clean energy infrastructure. Speaking at trade body Energy UK’s annual conference, he said the renewable energy transition is the “economic justice, energy security and national security fight of our time”.