The Prime MInister’s token appearance at COP27 reveals his complacency toward the climate emergency, says Bath MP

8 November 2022

Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, has slammed Rishi Sunak for his token attendance of COP27 as he had wasted an opportunity for Britain to take the lead on the climate crisis.

Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, has slammed Rishi Sunak for his token attendance of COP27 as he had wasted an opportunity for Britain to take the lead on the climate crisis.

Mr Sunak attended COP27 today where he met with leaders such as President Macron of France, new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It is reported that at none of these meetings was climate change discussed, conversation instead turning to the migrant channel crossings and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Prime Minister also said that we needed to meet the pledges of Glasgow, where Britain hosted COP26 last year, and has promised £200 million for green tech innovation and protecting forests. However, this figure pales in comparison to the £13.6 billion the Conservatives gave fossil fuel companies in tax breaks between 2015 and 2021.

Another area of concern is the Prime Minister appearing to imply that meeting the Glasgow pledges would be enough when scientists have said they still do not put us on track to keeping warming under 1.5 degrees. The world is still not even on track to meet those pledges, which themselves were watered down at the last minute by China and India on pledges to ditch coal. Something the Government has followed in the footsteps of as they are actively considering opening a new coal mine in Cumbria.

Mr Sunak’s appearance has been heavily criticised as he originally appeared to announce he would not attend and also told the King to stay at home too. He only changed his mind after Boris Johnson announced he would be attending at the invitation of the Egyptians, who are hosting COP27. Many have seen Mr Sunak’s attendance as reluctant and have criticised him for not putting the climate crisis at the top of his agenda.

Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, commented:

“The Prime Minister is treating our Net Zero pledges like buses, thinking once we miss one there is just another one we can catch. There is no other one. We need delivery now.

“Mr Sunak’s token visit to COP27 involved him spending most of the day talking to leaders about issues completely unrelated to the climate. It is a complete dereliction of duty to ignore the most important issue of our time and instead focus on petty squabbles with the French and EU.

“The Government has to get a grip and start focussing their entire policy agenda on Net Zero. Without this cross-departmental focus we will miss our targets and that will be a disaster. We have to lead on this issue and take the world with us to a green future and Sunak’s ignorance of this is shameful.”