Boris Johnson confirms he will attend COP27 piling more pressure on Rishi Sunak to attend

1 November 2022, 18:54

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed he will be attending Cop27 in Egypt as calls for current PM Rishi Sunak to reverse his decision to skip the conference continue to grow.

Mr Johnson said he was attending after being "invited by the Egyptians", where the climate conference is being hosted. Speaking to Sky News, he added that he was "very happy to" after the UK hosted the Cop26 summit in Glasgow last year.

It follows reports over the weekend that the former PM could attend, putting pressure on Mr Sunak to reverse his decision and attend the climate summit.

Mr Sunak confirmed last week that he would not be attending, citing the UK's current economic climate as a reason for staying at home.

He faced a barrage of criticism for this stance, including from current Cop26 President Alok Sharma, who said he was "disappointed" by the PM's decision.

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Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Net Zero Kerry McCarthy said :"I think he should be there because apart from anything else, we do have the Cop presidency at the moment...so it seems like a matter of politeness."

She added: "It's also a really important forum for trying to make progress on our global goals, trying to make sure Britain is seen at the forefront of that [and] attract investment."

Number 10 has said that the prime minister's decision is under review.