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No 10 ‘in Row’ Over BoJo’s Plan to Visit COP27 – Report

© AFP 2023 / DANIEL LEALBritain's outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he delivers his final speech outside 10 Downing Street in central London on September 6, 2022
Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he delivers his final speech outside 10 Downing Street in central London on September 6, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 30.10.2022
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Earlier this week, new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was bashed over No 10’s announcement that “other pressing commitments” would prevent him from attending the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt.
There were “signs of a row at the highest levels” of the UK government on Saturday night due to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s alleged intent to attend the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) scheduled for early next month, a British media outlet has reported.
The outlet quoted unnamed sources as saying that there are “indications” that efforts are ostensibly being made to prod Johnson not to visit COP27, due to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 6-17 as No 10 remains “alarmed” over the issue.
A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office admitted in a statement that they could not directly answer whether BoJo plans to travel to Egypt and attend the event, ostensibly in order to show his solidarity with the international community’s fight against the climate crisis.
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They underscored that the UK government is “absolutely committed to supporting COP27 and leading international action to tackle climate change and protect nature.”

The spokesperson pledged that Britain “will be fully represented by senior ministers, including the foreign, business and environment secretaries, as well as COP president Alok Sharma,” who “will be working to ensure that countries continue to make progress on the groundbreaking commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow.”

The statement follows Downing Street’s announcement that new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will not attend the Sharm el-Sheikh gathering because of “other pressing commitments”, something that caused flak from the opposition and even Tory members.
While Labor leader Keir Starmer tweeted that “Britain showing up to work with world leaders is an opportunity to grasp” rather than “an event to shun,” Shadow Climate Change secretary Ed Miliband dubbed Sunak’s decision “a massive failure of climate leadership.”
“We were the COP26 hosts and now the UK Prime Minister isn’t even bothering to turn up to COP27. “What Rishi Sunak obviously fails to understand is that tackling the climate crisis isn’t just about our reputation and standing abroad, but the opportunities for lower bills, jobs, and energy security it can deliver at home,” Miliband emphasized.
The same tone was struck by Liberal Democrats leader Edward Davey, who claimed that the British prime minister’s move “flies in the face of the UK's proud tradition of leading the world in our response to the climate change.”
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Conservative Party member Nadine Dorries in turn tweeted that “the prime minister is wrong not to go.”

“Global warming is the biggest crisis facing our planet and net zero creates many 100s of jobs which is good for the economy”, she noted, adding the COP26 summit in Glasgow, which was held under Johnson’s leadership, was “the most successful ever.”
On Monday, Johnson suddenly announced his withdrawal from the Tory leadership race, arguing “this is simply not the right time," in what was followed suit by House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, something that left Sunak winning the contest and becoming the first Hindu PM in UK history.
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