Rishi Sunak’s first major U-turn after taking over as UK PM

London:

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday that he would attend the UN climate change summit, reversing an early decision not to go because of “pressured domestic commitments”.

“There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy without investing in renewable energy,” Rishi Sunki wrote on Twitter.

“That’s why I’ll be attending @COP27P next week: to fulfill Glasgow’s legacy of building a safe and sustainable future.”

There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change.

There is no energy security without investing in renewable energy.

so i will run @COP27P Next week: To carry on Glasgow’s legacy of building a safe and sustainable future.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) 2 November 2022

Sunak’s original decision not to attend the gathering at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh angered environmental campaigners.

But a U-turn was signaled on Tuesday when his spokesman said the decision was “under review” and after reports that Boris Johnson would participate.

Johnson, who hosted last year’s COP26 meeting in Glasgow on Tuesday night confirmed that he would be in Egypt After receiving invitations from the hosts.

This led many political commentators to conclude that Sunak would be forced to avoid being elevated by his controversial predecessor.

There has been bad bloodshed between the pair since the fall of Johnson after Sunak resigned as his finance minister in July.

Johnson blamed Sunak for the resignations of dozens of others in the government and backed Liz Truss in the race to replace him.

The truss’s short-term tenancy in Downing Street expired last month after just 49 days, with a tax cut without it causing turmoil in financial markets.

Sunak, appointed on October 25, is supposed to address the fiscal mess, but campaigners say the environment should not be sacrificed as a result.

During his tenure, Johnson championed renewable energy as the key to a green UK economy and his pursuit of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Caroline Lucas, the lone Green Party MP in the UK Parliament, called Sunak’s announcement a “scary U-turn”.

“But what a shameful wrong move on the world stage,” she tweeted. “Let this be a lesson to him – climate leadership matters.

He tweeted, “Now they urgently need to step up the UK’s ambition on emissions reduction targets and pay back what we have paid for the Global Climate Funds.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)