Rishi Sunak defended watering down his zero policy policies, as he insisted that the UK is still “leading the charge” in tackling climate change at the Cop28 summit in Dubai.
Mr Sunak told the crucial global conference that “climate politics is close to breaking point” – but also claimed he would only cut emissions in a way that “benefits the British people”.
The Tory leader claimed it was “entirely sensible” to worry about taxpayers’ money when trying to meet targets. Yet he was forced to defend his decision to fly on a private jet to the summit for only one day.
Mr Sunak was grilled by reporters on whether he was really taking Cop28 “seriously” – given he would be spending more time on travelling to and from the UAE than at the summit itself.
The PM – spending less than 24 hours in Dubai – fired back at the “hugely simplistic” idea. “I wouldn’t measure our impact it by hours spent – I would measure in by the actually things we are doing to make a difference.”
Flying back on Friday, Mr Sunak insisted that the UK government can still “stand tall” at Cop28 and remains a “leader” on climate change – despite his own rollback of net zero ambitions at home.
Insisting he would not be “in hock to ideological zealots”, the PM has scaled back a host of net zero targets and vowed to “max out” UK oil and gas reserves by granting new North Sea drilling licences.
Mr Sunak promised “hand on heart” that no global figure had raised his recent moves to scale back targets in Britain. “Not a single leader I’ve met today has spoken about that. Do you know why? Most of their targets are less ambitious that the UK.”
Rishi Sunak (right) speaks to King Charles at Cop28 summit
“Any which way I look at it, we are a leader on this issue,” the PM he told reporters. “So I will walk around very proudly tomorrow championing the UK’s achievements in this space.”
The Tory leader has announced £1.6bn for international climate finance – including to support projects to halt deforestation and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
But ActionAid UK said Mr Sunak’s £1.6bn pledge was simply a “smoke and mirrors accounting trick” based on “reheated pledges from years gone by”.
Zahra Hdidou, the charity’s senior climate adviser, said the sum was “neither new nor additional”. The campaigner said the PM was “refusing to act meaningfully on climate action”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is also at the UAE event to position himself as a PM-in-waiting and stress that Britain would be open to major green investment if he wins power.
Mr Sunak accused Sir Keir of “just trying to catch up”, as he claimed the Tories have a “fantastic track record” on tackling climate change. He used his Cop28 appearance to announce a deal between Masdar and RWE to invest up to £11bn in the UK’s new wind farm at Dogger Bank.
But Mr Starmer hit back by saying a Labour government would “turbocharge” sluggish growth in green tech, and lead a “clean power alliance” to cut energy prices with international partners.
Rishi Sunak speaking to media at the climate change summit
The new row comes as King Charles III has warned that the world remains “dreadfully far off track” in key climate targets in the opening speech at Cop28.
The monarch warned of the “vast, frightening experiment” in rising temperatures. And he said he prayed for “transformation action” from global leaders – arguing that “our own survivability will be imperilled” unless carbon emissions are cut.
On Friday world leaders agreed a new declaration aimed at transforming the global food system – with new pledges on sustainable agriculture and more resilient food chains. It follows a commitment to a £340m fund for nations suffering the most from the effects of climate change.
Cop28 president Sultan al-Jaber, who is also chief executive of state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has been accused of seeking to use the conference to strike oil and gas deals – which he has denied.
Mr Sunak denied the allegations undermine the UAE’s position leading the negotiations, Mr Sunak saying he “commended” the host nation’s leadership. The UAE’s president Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced a £23.7bn fund for “global climate solutions”.
Zac Goldsmith – who quit as an environment minister accusing Mr Sunak of being “uninterested” in the issue – told Sky News that the UK was no longer seen as “a reliable or serious partner” on climate change.
Senior Tory MP Chris Skidmore – the former government net zero tsar – said the country could not wait for the “technologies of tomorrow” to decarbonise its industries.
Mr Skidmore said UK industrial emissions could be more than halved using technology available “today, right at our fingertips” as he launched a series of proposals – including greater investment hydrogen and carbon capture and storage technology.
