British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reversed course on Wednesday and announced that he would travel to Sharm-el-Sheik for the annual meeting in response to pressure to reconsider his plan to skip the United Nations’ climate meet, known as “COP27,” in Egypt next week.
Without addressing climate change, long-term prosperity is impossible. Without spending on renewable energy sources, there is no energy security. To carry forth Glasgow’s legacy of constructing a safe and sustainable future, that is why I will attend @COP27P next week,” Mr. Sunak tweeted on Wednesday morning, just before Prime Ministers’ Questions in the House of Commons. Mr. Sunak was supposed to focus on the autumn Budgetary statement on November 17 and was not planned to fly to Egypt, according to a statement from Downing Street on last Thursday.
A group of parliamentarians from various parties had written to Mr. Sunak on Monday asking him to attend the meeting, which was hosted by the U.K. in Glasgow last year, when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister. Mr. Johnson had also confirmed that he would be attending the gathering in Sharm-El-Sheikh which begins on Sunday. Over the last few days , Downing Street appeared to have begun the process of walking back Mr. Sunak’s decision not to attend. On Monday, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson told the British press that the decision was “under review”.
Joe Biden of the United States and Emmanuel Macron of France are among the confirmed attendees of COP27, increasing pressure on Mr. Sunak to go. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss is said to have persuaded King Charles III not to attend the summit because of his lengthy record of supporting environmental and climate change causes. Instead, a climate-related event will be held at Buckingham Palace on Friday, with Mr. Sunak and U.S. John Kerry is the presidential climate envoy.
Shadow environment secretary Ed Miliband tweeted that Mr. Sunak had gone to Egypt to “avoid humiliation,” saying that this was “yet another example of a Prime Minister who solely makes choices for reasons of political management, not the national interest.”
