UK Prime Minister Could U-Turn on Attending COP27

The UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak delivers a speech at the opening of Finance Day at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 3, 2021. (Daniel Leal-Olivas /AFP via Getty Images)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could U-turn on his decision not to attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt if progress has been made on his autumn budget, his official spokeman has confirmed.

Last Thursday a Number 10 spokeswoman said: “The prime minister is not expected to attend Cop27 and this is due to other pressing domestic commitments including preparations for the Autumn Budget. The UK will be fully represented by other senior ministers as well as the Cop president Alok Sharma.”

At the time, the move drew criticism from the left-wing opposition party Labour as well as environmental groups.

Liz Truss, Sunak’s predecessor, had been expected to attend the U.N. climate conference to be held in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

On Monday, Number 10 confirmed that the position was now “under review.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said Sunak’s attendance at COP27 was dependent on preparations for the autumn budget, which is due on Nov. 17.

“As we’ve said, the Prime Minister is focused on pressing domestic issues, most significantly preparing for the autumn statement, so any attendance at Cop would depend on progress on preparation for that fiscal event, and that work is ongoing,” he said.

The spokesman said the prime minister believes the public wants him to restore “fiscal credibility.”

Sunak has been sending mixed signals about his government’s energy and environmental policies. The new prime minister restored the moratorium on fracking only weeks after Truss’s government lifted the ban. But he demoted climate minister Graham Stuart and COP26 President Alok Sharma, who have been stripped of their Cabinet seats.

Last week, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who served as energy secretary under Truss, said the prime minister is “right not to go to” Cop27.

“The cost of living won’t be solved in Sharm el Sheikh where each hotel room for the conference is £2,000 a night,” he wrote on Twitter.

King Charles III will not be attending COP27, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

In response to media inquiries, the palace confirmed that advice had been sought by the king and given by Truss.

“With mutual friendship and respect there was agreement that the king would not attend,” the palace said in a statement.

Last year at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, Charles III—who was then the Prince of Wales—mentioned the need for a “vast military-style campaign” and that “we have to put ourselves on what might be called a war-like footing,” to stop climate change.

“Here we need a vast military-style campaign to marshall the strength of the global private sector, with trillions at its disposal far beyond global GDP, and with the greatest respect, beyond even the governments of the world’s leaders,” he said.

PA Media and Alexander Zhang contributed to this report.