Egypt has urged new prime minister Rishi Sunak not to ditch the UK’s climate leadership role just weeks before it takes over as host of the UN COP climate talks.
As the Egyptians prepare to host COP27 in November, their lead negotiator told reporters that the UK “[showed] leadership in Glasgow,” where it held the COP26 climate summit this time last year.
“We know that there are challenges, economic challenges that are there, facing the UK and other countries, but we hope that those challenges does not lead to backsliding on the pledges,” ambassador Mohamed Nasr said in response to a question from Sky News.
He also said Egypt “still [hopes]” King Charles will attend this year’s negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh. The monarch, a longstanding environmentalist, earlier this month pulled out of attending the talks, reportedly following consultation with the-then prime minister Liz Truss.
Image: King Charles attended COP26 in Glasgow when he was Prince Charles
The invitation is “still there, it’s an open invitation,” the diplomat said.
“He has been a very strong advocate for climate action. He has been a role model for… putting not only his political weight behind the climate change discussion, but also that he has been influencing and giving the right image for how royalty can push for the climate agenda.
“So we hope that he will be there, and we still hope that he can make it and come and come to Sharm El-Sheikh.”
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The diplomat dodged questions on whether US President Joe Biden or China’s President Xi Jinping would attend, but said he hoped they would, since “their cooperation, and their role has always been instrumental in allowing for progress on climate change”.
Ambassador Nasr said the UK was one of the “leading countries” in pledging overseas aid to help developing nations respond to climate change.
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“And we hope that this leadership role continues,” he said, hoping for new cash to pay for adaptation measures in those countries, which could be projects like relocating coastal communities or early warning systems for natural hazards.
Climate finance pledges ‘minimal’ compared to COVID
He said climate finance pledges are “minimal” compared to what was mobilised for the COVID-19 pandemic or “other causes”.
Last year the UK pledged £11.6bn in climate finance over a five-year period. Spending on the pandemic response is estimated to cost at least £310bn.
Mr Nasr said the challenge is less in finding the money but in the “political will and the commitment” to deliver money pledged.
Aid organisations and several MPs are concerned that the aid budget is being squeezed as the UK siphons off some of it to fund the housing of Ukrainian refugees, as opposed to allocating extra funding for the resettlement scheme.
Sarah Champion MP, chair of a committee of MPs that scrutinises aid spending, last week raised concerns that the UK could again cut its aid budget to 0.3% of GNI (gross national income) – having already cut it from 0.7% to 0.5% last year – as the PM seeks to fill a £40bn hole in the country’s finances.
Image: COP26 President Alok Sharma
Sharma loses cabinet position
Meanwhile, the outgoing COP president, MP Alok Sharma, held on to his COP presidency role but lost his cabinet position in the reshuffle, a downgrade in seniority just before COP27.
Appearing before a number of parliamentary committees on Tuesday, Mr Sharma said the government should “explain and demonstrate” how new oil and gas exploration is in line with its climate commitments.
The MPs grilled him on the numerous recent contentious policies, including lifting the ban on fracking and issuing 100 new licences for offshore oil and gas. He said he did not support fracking.
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Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.