The UK has hosted the previous summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021. (File)
London:
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday defended his decision not to attend the COP27 climate change summit next month, saying he must focus on “urgent” economic issues.
In an interview with Sky News a day after Downing Street announced he would skip the summit, the prime minister stressed he was “very personally committed” to environmental issues.
“I just think it’s right at the moment that I’m also focusing on the pressing domestic challenges we face to the economy, and I think that’s what everyone watching is going to expect. me reasonably,” Sunak said.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 took place in Egypt for two days November 7-8, two weeks after Sunak became prime minister.
Opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer attacked the Tory leader’s decision to “stay away” from the event, while Greens leader Caroline Lucas said Sunak’s absence was a “shameful way to end his mandate. United Kingdom’s COP Presidency”.
The UK has hosted the previous summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, with British politician Alok Sharma as chairman.
Sunak said the UK should be “really proud of how we’re doing” as “one of the fastest decarbonising countries”.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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