Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Boris Johnson says he will go to Cop27, piling pressure on Rishi Sunak

The former prime minister says he was invited by the Egyptian organisers of the meeting

Jon Stone
Policy Correspondent
Tuesday 01 November 2022 14:04 EDT
Comments
Boris Johnson says he will go to Cop27, piling pressure on Rishi Sunak

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Boris Johnson has said he will attend the COP27 climate summit – piling pressure on Rishi Sunak to attend.

Mr Sunak's has so far declined to say whether he will go to Egypt for the meeting, claiming his focus is on domestic policy.

The prime minister's ambiguity has raised eyebrows because the UK hosted the COP26 summit under Mr Johnson last year and has claimed leadership on climate issues.

On Thursday last week, Downing Street said Mr Sunak was not expected to attend "due to other pressing domestic commitments".

But by Monday No 10 floated the possibility, with a spokesperson saying the position was "under review".

Asked during an interview with Sky News on whether he was attending the summit, Mr Johnson said: “Yes, as it happens.” The prime minister added “was invited by the Egyptians”.

Mr Johnson was the prime minister at the time of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

He said it had “become unfashionable” to talk about the previous meeting, but said it had been a “fantastic global success” which did “a huge amount of good for the planet”.

During the same interview, Mr Johnson told the broadcaster that Vladimir Putin “would be crazy” to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in