Explainer-in-brief: What the hell is Boris Johnson doing at cop27?
In his classic flamboyant style, Boris Johnson made quite an entry to Cop27 yesterday claiming he was “the spirit of Glasgow”, where Cop26 took place last year. Johnson urged leaders to keep up with the climate targets and underlined the urgency needed to achieve the net zero project in time.
He assured the audience that he was in Egypt “in a purely supportive role”, but his successor Rishi Sunak might think otherwise.
Sunak has had an embarrassing start, first saying he would not come to the climate conference to focus on domestic issues, and then being pressured to U-turn.
Johnson’s presence only highlights Sunak’s hesitant approach to net zero and wariness about the costs of the energy transition, while his predecessor enthusiastically threw himself into the green project and clearly considers this policy area one of his main legacies.