COP27 | Time to act faster on climate change, says Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak referenced a speech by the late Queen Elizabeth II to the COP26 summit last year, where she said there was "hope" for the climate if countries come together.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on November 7, 2022 declared that it was time to act faster on climate change because it is the “right thing to do” as he committed 11.6 billion pounds as the country’s commitment to the climate fund during his address at the COP27 summit in Egypt.

In his first major address on the world stage since taking charge at 10 Downing Street, the Indian-origin leader pointed to green energy investment as a "fantastic source of new jobs and growth" as he pledged to build on the “room for hope” created during the UK's presidency of COP26 in Scotland last November.

He also used his speech to pay tribute to COP26 President, Indian-origin former minister Alok Sharma, "for his inspiring work" to deliver on the Glasgow climate pact of last year.

“[Russian President] Putin's abhorrent war in Ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change — they are a reason to go faster," said Mr. Sunak, in his relatively short address at the summit being held in Sharm El Sheikh.

"Instead of developing countries being unfairly burdened with the carbon debt of richer nations and somehow expected to forgo that same path to growth, we are helping those countries deliver their own fast track to clean growth," he said.

Mr. Sunak referenced a speech by the late Queen Elizabeth II to the COP26 summit last year, where she said there was "hope" for the climate if countries come together.

"She reflected how history has shown when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope. I believe we found room for hope in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, we made the promises to keep that goal within reach. And the question today is this – can we summon the collective will to deliver them? I believe we can," he said.