London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

COP27: Ukraine a reason to act fast on climate change - Rishi Sunak

COP27: Ukraine a reason to act fast on climate change - Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak tells the COP27 summit in Egypt a greener planet is possible and there "is room for hope".

The war in Ukraine is a reason to act faster to tackle climate change, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told the UN climate summit COP27.

"Climate and energy security go hand-in-hand," he said in his first international appearance since taking office.

Leaders from 120 countries are meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to discuss next steps in curbing climate change.

Key topics are compensation and support for the most-affected countries.

"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 act faster," Mr Sunak said.

"We can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future [...] There really is room for hope," he added.

In a series of speeches, leaders urged rich countries to stay the course in stopping further climate change, despite the war in Ukraine and global financial problems.

Nations on the front line of climate change laid out the stark impacts of higher temperatures, drought, and floods on people and the environment.

"We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the summit.

His stark warning was echoed by former US vice-president and environmentalist Al Gore who said nations must "stop subsiding the culture of death" of fossil fuels.

In an energetic speech French President Emmanuel Macron urged world leaders to deliver climate justice.

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also in Egypt and said countries should not "go weak and wobbly" on climate action.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said switching to renewable energy was "a security policy imperative", while Italy's new prime minister Giorgia Meloni said her country remained "strongly committed" to its climate goals.

Though Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg is staying away from the summit, after she accused the UN of "green-washing", many other youth activists are in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Xiye Bastida, a 20-year-old activist from Mexico, is there to tell decision-makers that "nature must be protected".

She told BBC News she's pleased with progress so far in Egypt - including getting the words "loss and damage" on the agenda. The terms refer to money - as some form of compensation or reparations - for the effects of climate change on developing countries that did little to cause the problem.

But 24-year-old Mikaela Loach, from Scotland, said she's worried leaders are not fully committed to climate action that prioritises justice or human rights.

"Not all climate solutions are good for people. It's not just about cutting emissions, we must frame all our work about people and the world we are creating," she told BBC News.

Barbados PM Mia Mottley spoke of "horror and the devastation wrecked upon this Earth" in the past year.

"Whether the apocalyptic floods in Pakistan, or the heatwaves from Europe to China, or indeed in the last few days in my own region, the devastation caused in Belize by tropical storm Lisa, or the torrential floods a few days ago in St Lucia. We don't need to repeat it," she said.

The fact that the summit is taking place in Africa, a continent that is extremely vulnerable to climate change, was repeated through the day.

Kenyan President William Ruto said time is of the essence: "Further delay will make us busy spectators as calamity wipes out lives and livelihoods."

Up to 700 million people in Africa will be displaced due to lack of water by 2030, he explained.

COP27 opened on Sunday with a warning from the UN that our planet is "sending a distress signal".

A report released by the UN's World Meteorological Organization reveals that the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.

At last year's summit in Glasgow a number of pledges were agreed:

  • to "phase down" the use of coal - one of the most polluting fossil fuels
  • to stop deforestation by 2030
  • to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030
  • to submit new climate action plans to the UN

Developing nations are demanding that previous commitments to finance are upheld.

The COP27 global climate summit in Egypt is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. More than 200 countries are attending the summit to discuss further measures to cut emissions and prepare for climate change, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×