Running on empty

Aweek ago Rishi Sunak was not going to the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt. Today, he will be in Sharm El-sheikh urging participants to accelerate their drive towards net zero-carbon emissions. The Prime Minister’s speech will hail the speed with which the UK is heading towards a future of renewable-only energy sources, ignoring the fact that we will continue to import gas, oil and goods made using coal-produced electricity for decades to come.

The hypocrisy of this position is hardly acknowledged by any British politician, though Liz Truss was contemplating a change of approach during her ill-starred tenure in No10.

Moreover, the targets set for achieving net zero between 2030 and 2050 are shared by hardly any other major country. Moving to renewables is a good thing but the timetable has to be realistic. Indeed, the biggest emitters and exporters of carbon-based fuels will not even be at Sharm to hear Mr Sunak’s plea. China’s president Xi Jinping, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi are absent, as are Justin Trudeau of Canada and the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. The latter two countries export vast amounts of oil and coal.

Mr Sunak is expected to say that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “reinforced” the importance of ending dependence on fossil fuels and, given the way the Kremlin has weaponised its gas supplies to Europe, he is right about that.

But too many commitments are made that are not followed through, putting countries like Britain at a potential disadvantage against those blithely ignoring the pledges. Mr Sunak may feel the political “optics” require his presence at Sharm but voters facing blackouts this winter will not understand why we refuse to exploit the fuel beneath our feet when we need it.