Rishi Sunak, the newly appointed prime minister of the UK, has announced he won’t go to the next COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt in November. He just assumed office on Monday.
His choice coincides with a turbulent period for the UK, which has had three prime ministers in as many months and is experiencing energy and cost of living crises. It also coincides with doubts about the country’s resolve to continue serving as a global climate leader after Glasgow hosted the COP26 climate summit the previous year.
It’s not a leadership issue. Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary for the opposition Labour Party, told Sky News that refusing to attend COP27 amounted to abdicating leadership.
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Sunak has so far given conflicting messages on the ecology and the climate. His predecessor, Liz Truss, received harsh criticism from environmental groups for supporting a scheme that would have made it more difficult to install solar panels on farmland, easing a ban on fracking, and expanding oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. According to The Guardian, she also intended to attend COP27 for at least one day.
As part of his Tory Party’s 2019 platform, Sunak has pledged to reinstate the fracking moratorium in his first week in power. According to Reuters, his office announced on Thursday that he will not be attending COP27. He is reportedly working on a postponed autumn fiscal statement that will be made public on November 17.
According to a Downing Street spokeswoman, who was quoted by Reuters, “the Prime Minister is not anticipated to attend the summit in Egypt due to other important domestic commitments, including preparations for the autumn statement.”
Swank’s government insisted that it was dedicated to tackling the climate catastrophe at the same time.
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Environment Secretary Therese Coffey remarked, as quoted by BBC News, “We remain committed to net zero and to leading domestic and international action to tackle climate change. On net zero, the UK is outpacing several other nations.
The Glasgow Climate Pact, which was adopted at last year’s COP26 in the UK, gave nations until 2023 to modify their emission-reduction goals in order to get closer to the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. Because the 1.5 aim was not met, the summit’s conclusion drew criticism, but its organizers insisted that the treaty still provided a road to 1.5.
Alok Sharma, the departing COP26 president for the UK, will join Coffey at the meetings in Egypt, according to BBC News.
According to a Downing Street official quoted by Reuters, “The UK will be fully represented by other senior ministers, as well as COP President Alok Sharma.” They will strive to ensure that nations keep moving forward with the revolutionary pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow.
However, The Guardian reports that neither Sharma nor the recently dubbed climate minister Graham Stuart will remain in the government. Despite this choice, Sunak told The Guardian that his government still considered the climate catastrophe to be a top priority.
Sunak was chastised by the heads of opposition parties and environmental organizations for choosing not to go to the negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which will take place from November 6 to November 18, according to BBC News. According to BBC News, Greenpeace UK head of politics Rebecca Newsom said Sunak did not take the climate situation seriously enough, while Green MP Caroline Lucas said Sunak’s absence “made a mockery of any government claims on sustained climate leadership.”
Vladimir Putin of Russia will not be present, and the Chinese leadership has not confirmed. President of the United States Joe Biden intends to attend.
