Is Rishi Sunak the kind of climate ‘leader’ that Britain and the world need
He likes to think he is, but saying it does not make it so.
COP28 is over
So, COP28 is over and they actually came to an agreement which mentioned fossil fuels for the first time, and included agriculture. Big oil knew they were impacting the climate way back in the 1980s, yet they hosted the summit and used it to make deals and to water down the agreement. Hosts UAE are planning huge oil and gas expansion. Many pro-fossil-fuel lobbyists were there.
Many countries impacted by global warming were there, but they failed to get agreement to phase out fossil fuels.
Joe Biden got the USA off to a good start with $50 billion for climate resilience and weatherization in his infrastructure bill, but then he approved the Willow Project, a big Alaska oil and gas development. And he did not attend COP28. The US signed the COP28 agreement, but is now considering major oil and gas expansion in the Gulf of Mexico and is in favour of Gaza gas production.
Rishi Sunak did go to COP28 long enough to give a speech at a press conference, before rushing home to face the problems his party — particularly his predecessors’ and his own policies — had caused. At least we can say he did not stay to make any fossil fuel deals. King…