The UK?s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under fire for skipping the COP27 United Nations Conference.

The UK’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under fire for skipping the COP27 United Nations Conference. He has been accused of a “failure of leadership” by the opposition party for choosing not to attend next month’s climate summit. It is an indication that the climate crisis is not a priority for the new PM.

Downing Street has tried to quell concerns, saying the PM had “other pressing domestic commitments including preparations for the autumn Budget.” But former PM and predecessor Liz Truss was due to attend the conference. Appointed in his new Cabinet, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey told the BBC she will be attending along with Alok Sharma, who was president of last year's COP in Glasgow. This year’s conference is due to take place in Sharm el-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November. It finishes a day after UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to set out the UK’s tax and spending plans, pushed back from the usual end of October announcement date due to the turmoil in 10 Downing Street and fast change in Tory leadership.

Defending the PM, Coffey said the "big political moments" tended to happen at the conference every five years - such as last year's summit in Glasgow - and that this year's conference would be more about implementation. She also insisted that protecting the planet is a priority for the government. Speaking to LBC she said, “The UK continues to show global leadership as opposed to just a gathering of people in Egypt." She added that the UK is committed to net zero targets and is “forging ahead” of many other countries.

Labour leader Keir Starmer tweeted: “Britain showing up to work with world leaders is an opportunity to grasp. Not an event to shun.” Starmer said to Sky News that it is a hugely important issue and is “wound together with the energy crisis” and that he think many people would be expecting the UK PM to not just attend COP27 but to “pull world leaders together” to take action on the climate and energy crisis, and not doing so is a failure of leadership.

His criticisms have been echoed by Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who said it "flies in the face of the UK's proud tradition of leading the world in our response to climate change". Green Party’s Caroline Lucas also said the decision “made a mockery of any government claims on continued climate leadership".

Responding to criticism, Sunak denied that it is a leadership failure, saying that, "The leadership that we have shown on the climate is unmatched almost along the world.” He said he is “passionate and personally committed” to having a better environment for our children and grandchildren. But he added, “I just think, at the moment, it's right that I'm also focusing on the depressing domestic challenges we have with the economy. I think that's what people watching would reasonably expect me to be doing as well."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the BBC he would like to see Sunak and King Charles in attendance, but the likelihood is neither will be. Buckingham Palace confirmed earlier this month that the King will not be attending. More than 200 governments are invited to COP27. US President Joe Biden has confirmed attendance, but China is yet to do so. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not expected to attend amidst the war with Ukraine. 

Rising Pressure

Sunak’s decision not to attend COP27 is even more damning in the face of the UN Emissions Gap Report 2022, released on 27 October. The report is the 13th edition in the annual series that overviews the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avert the worst impacts of climate change. Key points include:

• Updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C.
• Policies currently in place point to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century.
• Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6°C temperature rise by the end of the century, for conditional and unconditional pledges respectively. 
• Only an urgent system-wide transformation can deliver the enormous cuts needed to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 2030: 45 per cent compared with projections based on policies currently in place to get on track to 1.5°C and 30 per cent for 2°C.

The news that the world must cut emissions by 45 per cent to avoid global catastrophe affirms the need for urgent and direct action. Sunak’s government has delayed legally binding targets aimed at curbing pollution and restoring nature. It will miss the 31 October deadline for setting targets to improve water, air and wildlife. The Environment Act passed last year requires that at least one target is set in each of four priority areas: air, water, biodiversity, and waste reduction.

Alongside missing COP27, it is right to call Sunak’s commitment to climate change into question. Sunak is the richest PM the UK has ever had, as his shared assets with his wife total almost a billion. As someone insulated by the climate crisis, it raises the question about whether Sunak will make any real commitment to tackling the world’s most pressing problem.

(Sources: The BBC, UN)
Image credit: Karwai Tang/ UK Government