Sunak's climate flip-flop: Optics over ethics
New UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, incurred the wrath of opposition parties, environmentalists, many in his own party, members of the UK public, and other global leaders when he announced that he was not attending the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt next week.
The surprise was warranted. The UK has not only been traditionally strong on climate rhetoric (if lacking in enough urgent policy enaction) but holds the current presidency for the conference, given that the last one was in Glasgow, Scotland. Sunak's announcement that he was not going to Egypt for the summit was controversial.
Now, in line with an ongoing trend of U-turns that the present government has committed, Sunak has bowed to pressure and committed to attend.
This has won the plaudits of some in his party, with former Conservative energy minister Chris Skidmore saying: “It’s extremely good news that Rishi Sunak will continue to champion the UK’s climate leadership and Cop26 legacy with Alok Sharma. I look forward to also attending Cop27 to highlight how the net zero review is an opportunity to better deliver greater prosperity and economic growth.”
The Conservative Environment Network's Sam Hall cast his opinion, saying, “Economically prudent, environmentally ambitious climate action is one of the UK’s greatest policy successes and sources of diplomatic clout, and perhaps the best example of Global Britain. As the Cop presidency transfers to Egypt, it is welcome the PM will lead the UK delegation.”
But make no mistake about this: The U-turn is not one borne of moral desire or need. Rather, it is one of optics. There is no ethical component in this decision, merely strategic planning and concerns of public relations management.
This is reminiscent of scenes we have recently seen in Russian mobilized conscript barracks:
Video from Baza of mobilized soldiers in Ulyanovsk who staged a protest because they aren’t being paid what they were promised. Rosgvardia troops were reportedly deplored before they dispersed. https://t.co/QKLavQIUh5 pic.twitter.com/DPLjKaGL27
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) November 2, 2022
Here, and there are other examples, we see troops not complaining about being sent to a sovereign nation to kill troops and no doubt civilians defending their homeland, but instead are complaining about not getting the money they were promised.
Though morality is taking a back seat in these events, let us hope that the end result is the same. The world needs Sunak and UK at the geopolitical table, taking the climate seriously. This signals to other nations who might be wavering and augurs well for efforts in the Last Chance Sloon Bar.
And goodness knows, the war in Ukraine is going to be wreaking some terrible havoc on the world's environment and climate, and, meanwhile, ExxonMobil has announced record profits and BP likewise, with £7.1 billion in this last quarter alone.
It is now more than ever that the world must come together under strong leadership to making lasting changes for the good.