This is a personal view written by Philip Brown, Secretary of the United Nations Association Coventry Branch. It does not necessarily reflect the view of the branch or UNA.

Tackling climate change is one of the United Nations top priorities and should also be one of the UK government’s. But the priority of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seems to be winning the forthcoming general election.

On 21 July 2023 the very unpopular Conservative party achieved a surprise victory in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election which was won because of motorists’ opposition to the proposed extension of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ).

Professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, John Curtice, told the BBC: “The tide is still a long way out for the Conservatives and they still have an awful long way to go before they look as though they might have a chance to retain power.”

On 19 September world leaders gathered in New York to take part in the annual General Debate in the UN General Assembly where they discussed grave issues facing the world including the increasingly distant prospect of reducing carbon emissions to save the world from climate disaster. But Rishi Sunak was too busy to attend.

He was in Downing Street working out how to support motorists and so encourage them to vote Conservative at the forthcoming general election. On 20 September he announced he would: delay a ban on new fossil fuel cars from 2030 until 2035; weaken a plan to stop installing new gas boilers by 2035; and no longer require homeowners and landlords to meet energy efficiency targets.

His announcement was greeted by dismay both within the UK and outside.

The Observer wrote on 23 September:

The view of the independent Climate Change Committee, the statutory body responsible for monitoring progress against the 2050 target, was that the UK was already making insufficient headway before Sunak rolled back some of the government’s commitments last week. There is no question that the substance of what he announced will make achieving net zero harder still.

Michael Bloss, a German Green MEP, said:

Rishi Sunak is becoming the leader of the fossil backlash. He is making the UK a climate villain and destroying its international reputation as a climate leader. These policies are destructive for the planet, which is already boiling, and they will be negative for the UK’s economy.

The UK’s North Sea Transition Authority has recently decided to grant development and production consent for the Rosebank field, north-west of Shetland. As this article is written it is widely expected that Sunak’s government will soon announce that the HS2 railway currently being constructed will terminate in Birmingham rather than continuing to Manchester. It is also expected that at the Tory party conference on 2 October Sunak will announce a “plan for motorists” that will limit the power of local councils to impose 20mph speed limits and make them open bus lanes to motorists more often, among other things popular with motorists but harmful to the climate.

Add to this the fact that the financial crisis hitting many families in the UK is in part the consequence of the disastrous Prime Ministership of Liz Truss and It looks like the continued failure of the UK to face up to its obligations to reduce its carbon emissions will be in part the result of the actions of her successor, Rishi Sunak.

For more on this topic see this article in the Guardian.