Teresa Ribera asks Sunak for “commitment” against the climate crisis

The third vice president of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, urged in an interview published Thursday by the newspaper “The Guardian” to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to show his “commitment” to measures against the climate crisis.

“The fight against climate change is not solved in COPs (climate summits), it is resolved at the ballot box, in each and every country. And I think it’s important for the British prime minister to make clear that the commitment is what we expect from a country like the United Kingdom.”

Sunak announced this week that he will finally attend COP27 in Egypt, having initially decided that he would not travel to the summit, while the British government has asked King Carlos III, a regular advocate of environmental policies, not to participate in the meeting.

“It is surprising that they limit the presence of the head of state and question the presence of the prime minister,” said the Spanish minister, for whom it is “very sad to see that debate.”

“It is necessary to remember that the United Kingdom still holds the presidency of one of the most important multilateral forums of the UN, a forum called to respond to global challenges,” said Ribera, referring to the COP26 summit that was held in Glasgow (Scotland) last November.

Regardless of which party is in power in the UK, the British government “cannot be allowed to fall into the same camp as (climate) deniers or supporters of postponing” solutions, Ribera added.

Source: SwissInfo