COP27: Rishi Sunak rebuffs predecessor Liz Truss with vow to get UK off polluting fossil fuels and turn it into a ‘clean energy superpower’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sworn to get the UK off polluting fossil fuels and on to more clean power in order to secure energy supplies, bucking claims by his predecessor Liz Truss that oil and gas expansion was vital.
Addressing world leaders at COP27 in Egypt on Monday, Mr Sunak will argue the “shock” to global energy markets triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscores the need to move to cheaper, cleaner, safer energy sources.
Amid domestic economic woes, the PM had declined the invite to the biggest climate summit of the year.
But this week, Mr Sunak made a dramatic U-turn following intense criticism he was missing an environmental and geopolitical opportunity.
In a statement before his departure on Sunday for Sharm El-Sheikh on the Red Sea, Mr Sunak said fighting climate change is not just a “moral good” but “fundamental to our future prosperity and security”.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.
Number 10 will hope the promise to make the UK a “clean energy superpower” smooths the way for negotiations at COP27, where almost 200 countries must each bring something to the table in the expectation others do the same.
Sunak ‘does not get’ scale of crisis
But the government is still mooting plans to issue more than 100 new licences for North Sea oil and gas extraction, initiated by Boris Johnson and pushed strongly by his successor, Ms Truss.
It has also further delayed a decision on whether to approve a new coal mine in Cumbria, expected on Monday but now pushed back until after COP27.
“We need to move further and faster to transition to renewable energy,” the PM added, although his team did not unveil details of funding or targets to facilitate the aim.
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COP27: World leaders due in Egypt
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Sunak “just does not get” the scale of the climate crisis.
Writing in The Observer, Sir Keir said: “Twelve years of the Conservatives has left our energy system exposed, bills rocketing, while failing to tackle the climate emergency.
“My Labour government will tackle the climate crisis by grasping the opportunities it presents.
“We’ll deliver clean power for 2030, and our publicly owned energy generator GB Energy will cut bills, secure our energy supplies, and create jobs.”
‘UK’s policies don’t match targets’
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Have we reached a climate tipping point?
Greenpeace UK said Mr Sunak’s speech might “make the right noises,” but the “hard currency of global climate diplomacy is actions, not words”.
“Not only do the UK’s policies completely fail to match up to its climate targets, but it has also failed to pay more than $300m promised to support developing countries deal with devastating climate impacts,” head of politics Rebecca Newsom told Sky News.
Speaking from Sharm El-Sheikh, she urged the PM to rule out new oil and gas drilling, and to invest in home insulation to cut energy demand.
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‘Tense divisive politics distracting from climate’
Mr Sunak’s rhetoric marks a shift from his predecessor, who aggressively sought to boost domestic fossil fuel production during her brief tenure. He has overturned the decision by Ms Truss to lift the ban on fracking for shale gas.
A report by leading energy NGO Global Energy Monitor warned handing out new permits to harvest oil and gas from the North Sea is incompatible with the UK’s goal to reach net-zero, which means slashing emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest.
Many new projects approved this year would not start producing for several years, would sell the oil and gas on international markets, and still be in operation in the early-to-mid 2050s, risking decarbonisation goals as well as becoming stranded assets.
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Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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