COP28: Net zero may need City to mobilise ‘trillions of pounds’, Rishi Sunak says
Transitioning to net zero won’t happen “without mobilising hundreds of billions, if not trillions of pounds” of public and private investment, Rishi Sunak said on route to COP28.
The Prime Minister has insisted the UK is the “leading green financial services centre” and warned that climate financing measures will be “critical” to tackling environmental issues.
Speaking to journalists on the flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sunak said his work at COP26 in Glasgow as the then-Chancellor saw him “focussed on the finances” with measures including climate resilient debt clauses key.
He said: “It’s critical, there is no way we can do the transition to net zero without mobilising hundreds of billions of pounds, if not trillions, in pursuit of this transition.
“That’s not all going to come from governments – it’s got to come from the private sector too.”
Sunak said, as Chancellor, he positioned the UK’s financial services sector “in the lead on that” and stressed “independent studies show we are the leading financial services centre”.
Asked about reports the COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber had been preparing to secure oil deals alongside the climate summit – which the UAE minister denied as “false” – the Prime Minister said: “No look, I commend the UAE’s leadership on this summit in general, we’ve been working very closely with them.
“In particular I’m really pleased they’ve made incredible progress on the finance aspect of this.”
Sunak also insisted he would “walk around very proudly tomorrow championing the UK’s achievements” and said he was “actually excited to focus on the £1.6bn of climate finance we’re announcing in the areas of forest and fuel and finance”.
It came after Lord Zac Goldsmith, an environment minister in Boris Johnson’s government, told Sky News the UK’s “standing has diminished considerably in recent months” with Britain no longer seen by allies as a “reliable or serious partner”.
The Prime Minister previously announced what some saw as a rollback of the UK’s green commitments, including delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035.
Sunak wouldn’t “pre-empt” whether the UK wanted to see COP28 commitments to “phase out” versus “phasing down” the use of coal, but he insisted the UK’s record was positive, despite confirming “in any reasonable scenario” Britain will still need fossil fuels in 2050.
“In 2024, globally renewables will overtake coal power for the first time,” he said, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) projections. “
“It shows that everyone is moving in the right direction. We’ve moved much faster than most so we will continue to take that positive message to everyone as well. Some of the finances and things we are announcing will help others make that transition.”
The Prime Minister also took a swipe at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who said he wanted to make Britain “the green finance capital of the world”, accusing him of “catching up”.
Sunak said the UK was already deemed the “world’s leading financial centre” when he was Chancellor and that he had hosted “what everyone considered to be, I think, the best finance day that had ever happened at COP[26]”.
He added: “It’s great that he’s catching up but I wouldn’t expect much more from the copy and paste shadow Chancellor. [It’s] a welcome conversion… and good that they’re catching up on green finance too.
“My plan is definitely a better plan than borrowing £28 billion pounds a year. All that will do – we all know exactly what I’m going to say – is drive up inflation, drive up mortgage rates and ultimately [lead] to higher taxes.”