Time is running out to avoid failure at the crucial climate summit the UK will host in November after a UN report found the world stands at “code red”, Boris Johnson has been told.
A senior Conservative warned the prime minister had yet to make his “promises a reality”, while a respected think tank told Mr Johnson he must make the landmark gathering a personal priority to deliver success.
As Tory MPs launched a group to fight climate action they claim will cost too much, the environment minister, Zac Goldsmith, appeared to reveal fears of an active campaign to sabotage Cop26 in Glasgow.
But, despite calls for Mr Johnson to “do the heavy lifting” – by using his clout to pressurise other world leaders into stronger commitments – there are no plans for him to meet any before November, The Independent was told.
Talks have been left to Alok Sharma, the little-known Cop26 president who was handed the role after the prime minister tried and failed to recruit a big-hitter.
No 10 instead claimed the UK is “well ahead” of other countries in slashing carbon emissions – and defended plans for a new North Sea oilfield as necessary “in the short term”.
The fears for the summit – now less than 12 weeks away – came after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that the target for stopping runaway climate change is slipping beyond reach.
Philip Dunne, the Tory chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said Mr Johnson had “inherited” the UK’s “favourable position” in cutting CO2 from his predecessors in No 10 and had yet to build on it.
“Before Cop26 leaders convene in Glasgow, he must show them he has the necessary political courage, by driving the government to adopt the strategies necessary to make his high-level climate promises a reality,” he said.
Strategies for achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and for replacing gas boilers with heat pumps and improving home insulation, have been delayed by Whitehall rows over who will pay the bill.
Meanwhile, the UK’s global reputation has been dented by savage cuts to overseas aid. The Independent revealed that no new money has been set aside for the billions promised to help poorer countries adapt to the emergency.
Jill Rutter, senior fellow at the Institute for Government, questioned Mr Johnson’s near-invisibility, who has declined to speak publicly about the IPCC’s alarming findings.
The prime minister had to prove he will “confront, not duck, the difficult choices”, Ms Rutter said, saying: “In the absence of this, his exhortations to other world leaders will not appear credible.
“The prime minister needs to pull out the diplomatic stops to deliver a success in Glasgow. That means he will need to do some of the heavy lifting himself – we have yet to see him use his position on the world stage to corral other countries.”
A group of Tory MPs led by Craig Mackinlay are fighting new expensive commitments that former Cabinet minister Esther McVey claimed might “bankrupt the country”.
Strikingly, Lord Goldsmith retweeted an accusation by the head of Natural England, Tony Juniper, that a campaign is underway in Tory-supporting media outlets to undermine Cop26.
Urging Conservative MPs to reject it, he warned the summit must be “a turning point” and told the BBC: “The alarm bells couldn’t be clearer or louder. We really need to get behind it.”
In a statement, Mr Johnson called the UN report “sobering reading”, saying: “We know what must be done to limit global warming – consign coal to history and shift to clean energy sources, protect nature and provide climate finance for countries on the front line.”
But the prime minister is refusing to block the new Cambo oilfield, in the North Sea, expected to start production in the autumn, on the grounds that its licence was granted many years ago.
His spokesperson defended the decision, saying: “It is obviously going to be to be part of the energy mix in the short term while we transition further to renewables.”
The UK’s independent climate change committee has lashed out at the government’s record, warning it is on course to “fail on net zero” – despite attention-grabbing promises.
But Mr Johnson’s spokesperson said the UK’s legal commitments to cut emissions by 68 per cent by 2030 and 78 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, is world-beating.
“I think that countries can look at the approach we’ve taken which is well ahead of the target set out by the IPCC on emissions,” he said.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “The IPCC report is the starkest reminder yet that the climate crisis is here right now and is the biggest long-term threat we face. The biggest threat we now face is not climate denial but climate delay.”
A source from Cop26 told journalists on Monday evening that special measures would be put in place to allow delegates from red list countries to attend the Cop26 conference.
The UK’s current travel rules mean arrivals from red list countries are only allowed into the country if they are a British National or have UK residence rights, and they must quarantine for 10 days in a hotel.
However, foreign nationals arriving from red list countries for the Cop26 summit will be granted access to the UK and will only need to quarantine for five days.
While the UK “strongly recommends” that all delegates arrive fully vaccinated, it is not mandatory for those attending the conference to have received one or both jabs.
