Rishi Sunak is to inform fellow world leaders at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt that “a global mission for new jobs and clean growth” can spearhead efforts to tackle climate change.
The PM will urge other countries to remain true to the pledges made in last year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow. He will also use his appearance to announce in excess of £200 million in funding from the UK to help prevent deforestation and bring green technologies to developing countries.
Within that, an additional £65.5 million will be granted to the clean energy innovation facility which issues grants to clean technology projects in developing nations, while £90 million will be forwarded to conservation initiatives in the Congo Basin rainforest and £65 million will be allocated to support indigenous and local communities affected by climate change.
In his address on Monday, Sunak will rally his counterparts to move “further and faster” on keeping global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, after the UN suggested that target could still be hit.
The PM will say: “The world came together in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5C. The question today is: can we summon the collective will to deliver on those promises?
“By honouring the pledges we made in Glasgow, we can turn our struggle against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth. And we can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future.”
Sunak will also talk up the urgency of ending global dependence on fossil fuels, after Russia’s military incursion on Ukraine and resulting embargoes on Russian energy supplies exacerbated the energy crisis.
Sunak’s address at the summit will come after he U-turned on an original decision not to travel, owing to domestic commitments such as preparing for the Autumn Statement.
Sunak eventually opted to attend COP27 in the wake of criticism from MPs on both sides of the Commons and climate change campaigners.
Indeed, Labour shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband has suggested that the prime minister cannot “claim the mantle of climate leadership” after having been “dragged kicking and screaming” to the summit.
Miliband has also called on ministers to help speed up the process of developing onshore wind farms and axe plans to issue more licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration projects.
On the 1.5C global warming target, the UN’s climate lead Simon Stiell said that the “science tells us” that the target can be hit, but it will require “extraordinary effort” from all.
Stiell warned that just 29 states had bolstered their climate pledges following COP26, which was “not enough” to have the desired effect of keeping global temperature increases down.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] has issued a report warning that global temperatures have already increased by 1.1C and could exceed 1.5C over pre-industrial levels without a change of trajectory.
The IPCC says that this would leave much of the world’s population in danger of over-exposure to intense heat and humidity and render some places uninhabitable.
Moreover, the UN has also called on wealthier nations to do more in providing climate finance to developing countries. Sunak's pledges today will act as an indicator that the UK is willing to play its part.
Image by UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Flickr, sourced from Wikimedia Commons
