Two years ago, from Glasgow, the economic capital of Scotland and host of COP26, an inspired Boris Johnson compared the leaders of the whole world to James Bond launched into a mad race against global warming. Faced with an impressive audience of leaders – Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen, Prince Charles – he reminded Western countries of their responsibilities as polluters and even cited Greta Thunberg, denouncing the “blablabla” and empty promises.
This year, for COP28 in Dubai, which begins Thursday November 30, the now King Charles III will make the trip again – he is expected to deliver the inaugural speech of the conference – but it is Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who will accompany him to represent the United Kingdom, Mr. Johnson having been driven out of Downing Street by scandals in 2022. His successor has established himself on the international scene through his seriousness and pragmatism but he does not share his interest in the environment. Initially indifferent, in recent months he has even tried to exploit the country’s climate objectives for political purposes, in the hope of regaining public favor, his conservative party remaining very unpopular.
Insufficient national effort
The country has until now been leading the way: it has invested massively in renewable energies, notably offshore wind power in the 2010s, it has almost given up on coal and was the first, in 2019, to enshrine its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. But, at the end of 2022, Rishi Sunak, who had just taken office, authorized the reopening of a coal mine. Since then, he has touted the awarding of dozens of licenses to exploit fossil fuels in the North Sea and, last September, he chose to delay from 2030 to 2035 the ban on the sale of new gasoline or gasoline cars. diesel, renounced the ban on the sale of gas boilers by 2035 or the obligation on owners to improve the energy efficiency of their rentals.
The Conservative Prime Minister says he wants to represent the “party of motorists”assures that it is not a question of renouncing the country’s commitments, but that it is a question of complying with them in a manner “more pragmatic, proportionate and realistic” for the British. Certainly, the objective of carbon neutrality in 2050 remains, as does the very ambitious step of having reduced CO emissions by 68%.2 in 2030, but the path to achieving these objectives now seems uncertain: even before the government’s renunciations last summer, the Climate Change Committee was worried about an insufficient national effort.
You have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.