Rishi Sunak to attend COP27 – reversing decision to skip it to focus on economy
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Rishi Sunak has said he will go to COP27 in Egypt, in a reversal of his previous snub.
In a statement on Twitter, the prime minister said: “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change.
“There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend COP27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.”
Pressure was growing on the PM after Boris Johnson confirmed to Sky News yesterday that he would be going to the climate summit.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said Mr Sunak had to be “dragged kicking and screaming into doing the right thing”, and called the U-turn “embarrassing”.
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, said: “The prime minister has been shamed into going to COP27 by the torrent of disbelief that he would fail to turn up.
“He is going to avoid embarrassment not to provide leadership.”
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party’s only MP, said: “Glad to see Sunak’s screeching U-turn on COP27, but what an embarrassing mis-step on the world stage.
“Let this be a lesson to him – climate leadership matters.
“Now he urgently needs to increase UK ambition on emission reduction targets & pay what we owe to global climate funds.”
Mr Sunak initially said he was not going to head to the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh due to “other pressing domestic commitments”.
But the PM faced a raft of criticism, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing him of displaying a “failure of leadership” and Greenpeace UK saying he was not taking climate change “seriously enough”.
Within days, Downing Street changed course, saying the PM’s attendance was “under review”, depending on progress around preparation for the economic statement, set for 17 November.
A No 10 source told Sky News that Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have made “good progress” on the autumn statement after working on it over the weekend and this week.
