Rishi Sunak under growing fire for shunning COP27 climate summit

Rishi Sunak’s decision not to attend next month’s UN COP27 climate summit in Egypt is “disappointing” and could damage Conservative prospects at the next election, the government’s environmental tsar has warned.

Alok Sharma, president of the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, joined a chorus of criticism of the UK prime minister who said he would not attend the summit because of “pressing domestic commitments”.

Sunak removed Sharma from the cabinet last week, and the climate envoy has lost his status as a minister.

The prime minister’s decision not to attend the COP27 conference running between November 6 and 18 adds to the row over UK representation. King Charles was advised by Downing Street not to attend the Sharm el-Sheikh event.

“I’m pretty disappointed that the prime minister is not going,” Sharma told the Sunday Times newspaper.

“I understand that he’s got a huge in-tray of domestic issues that has to be dealt with. But I would say that going to COP27 would allow for engagement with other world leaders. And I think it does send a signal — if the prime minister was to go — about our renewed commitment to the issue.”

Sharma, who will hand over the COP presidency from the UK to Egypt at the summit, said one reason Australian conservatives did not win this year’s election was “because people didn’t feel they took this issue seriously enough”.

Sunak has said he wants to focus on domestic economic issues, but other world leaders including President Joe Biden of the US and France’s Emmanuel Macron are expected to attend the summit on the Red Sea coast.

Tensions over Sunak not going could rise further if Boris Johnson, former prime minister, decides to attend the conference. Johnson played a key role in raising the profile of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

Johnson’s spokesman declined to deny a report in the Observer newspaper that the former prime minister was considering going to the event.

Although some on the Tory right have praised Sunak for having the correct priorities — they have said the prime minister should be focusing on the November 17 Autumn Statement — the issue has caused splits in the Conservative party.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, former business secretary, tweeted last week: “The cost of living won’t be solved in Sharm el-Sheikh where each hotel room for the conference is £2,000 a night.”

But fellow rightwinger and former minister Nadine Dorries replied on Twitter: “The prime minister is WRONG not to go to COP. Global warming is the biggest crisis facing our planet.”

The climate issue resonates particularly strongly with younger voters, a demographic with whom the Conservatives have struggled to connect for many years.

Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove told the BBC the government had a good record on working towards a net zero carbon target by 2050. “Even more important than who goes is what we do,” he said.

But Anthony Browne, Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire, said Sunak was “wrong” not to authorise the King’s attendance at the summit.

He tweeted: “The King has been leading world opinion on climate change, and his presence will help ensure a successful summit. It is essential that the UK retains its international leadership on reaching net zero.”