A row over British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s refusal to attend the COP27 climate summit took an extraordinary twist on Saturday night as the Observer was informed that former British prime minister Boris Johnson is planning to attend the event.
Several sources said they had been told that Johnson is intending to go to the crucial meeting of world leaders in Egypt to show his solidarity in the battle against the climate crisis.
Johnson’s attendance would be potentially explosive just days after Sunak took over as prime minister and decided he did not have time to attend. It would be seen as both an implicit criticism of Sunak for not going and an attempt to maintain and bolster his profile just a week after he abandoned his own attempts at a dramatic comeback to No. 10.
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Several sources close to Johnson did not deny that he was set to go.
On Saturday night, there were signs of a row at the highest levels of government over Johnson’s intentions, and indications that efforts might be under way to get him to change his mind.
Asked whether Johnson was attending COP27, the British Cabinet Office, which is in charge of Conference of the Peoples (COP) planning and preparations, said that it could not answer directly.
“The government is absolutely committed to supporting COP27 and leading international action to tackle climate change and protect nature,” a spokesman said. “The UK will be fully represented by senior ministers, including the foreign, business and environment secretaries, as well as COP president Alok Sharma.”
It is understood senior officials in government has been aware for some time that Johnson intended to attend the event in Sharm el-Sheikh, which is taking place from Sunday to No. 17.
It remained unclear on Saturday night whether Johnson was planning to go as part of the official UK government delegation, which includes several lawmakers, as a guest of the incoming Egyptian COP presidency, or as a guest of a non-governmental organization or other national delegation.
The new prime minister’s decision not to attend has already provoked huge criticism from the environmental lobby and caused dismay in other governments.
“Rishi Sunak is absent when it comes to the climate crisis. If even the former prime minister is attending COP27, it is just further evidence of his colossal failure of leadership,” British Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero Ed Miliband said.
“The prime minister’s decision to pull out of COP27 shows he doesn’t care about the greatest long-term threat our country faces,” Miliband said. “The government is way off track from its climate targets, and has a deeply unambitious net zero agenda, with plans to cut the cheapest, cleanest forms of power like onshore wind.
Suggestions that Sunak urged King Charles not to attend the summit when he was keen to do so were denied by Buckingham Palace on Saturday night.
The palace said the king would demonstrate his own commitment to the COP process by hosting an event at Buckingham Palace this week for business leaders, decisionmakers and nongovernmental organizations that would be attended by the prime minister and Sharma.
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