RISHI Sunak has confirmed he will now attend COP27 in Egypt next week.

Initially, the Prime Minister had said he could not attend the climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh due to "other pressing domestic commitments".

He was criticised for snubbing the conference. 

COP26 president and former cabinet minister Alok Sharma suggested the absence could undermine the work done by the UK on tackling climate change.

Labour described it as a "massive failure of leadership."

On Wednesday morning, just two hours before he was due to take part in Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Sunak said he would now attend.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables.

"That is why I will attend @COP27P next week: to deliver on Glasgow's legacy of building a secure and sustainable future."

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak had been “dragged kicking and screaming into doing the right thing.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas wrote on Twitter: “Glad to see Sunak’s screeching U-turn on #COP27, but what an embarrassing misstep on the world stage. Let this be a lesson to him – climate leadership matters.

 

“Now he urgently needs to increase UK ambition on emission reduction targets & pay what we owe to global climate funds.”

Mr Sharma said he was “delighted” that the Prime Minister would now attend.

"Completely agree with his comment that ‘there is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change’," he added.

The decision to take part in the summit comes just hours after Boris Johnson said he would be going.

In an interview with Sky, the former prime minister claimed it had "become unfashionable" to talk about the Glasgow COP.

But he said the conference had been a "fantastic global success" which did "a huge amount of good for the planet", and at this year's event, due to kick off on Sunday, he wanted to "talk a little bit about how I see things and how we see things in the UK".

A spokesperson for the Scottish government also confirmed last week that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is planning to attend.