Ousted COP26 president says PM doesn’t understand climate change

The COP26’s sacked ex-president has warned Boris Johnson that preparations for the upcoming UN climate change summit are “miles off track”.

Claire O’Neill also revealed in an interview this morning that the prime minister has admitted that he does not “understand” the issue.

In a strongly worded letter to the prime minister, which was sent ahead of this morning’s COP26 launch event at the Science Museum in London, ex-energy minister of state Claire O’Neill also revealed that promises of resources from Johnson have not materialised.

“You promised to ‘lead from the front’ and asked me what was needed ‘money, people, just tell us!’ Sadly, these promises and offers are not close to being met.”

And she wrote that the cabinet sub-committee on climate, which Johnson promised to chair when he announced its establishment before the general election, has “not met once”.

In an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme, she advised those dealing with Johnson to get commitments from him “in writing”, adding that the prime minister had admitted to her that he does not “understand” climate change.

O’Neill, who resigned as energy minister last summer to take on the COP presidency and has subsequently stepped down as an MP, also revealed that preparations for the conference have been bedevilled by turf wars both within Whitehall and between the Scottish and UK governments.

“In the absence of your promised leadership and cabinet agreement, and despite the best efforts of the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster (Michael Gove), departments have fought internal Whitehall battles over who is responsible and accountable for COP actions and made the work of the COP unit to drive forward plans and preparation so much harder.”

According to O’Neill, the COP delivery team has had to “battle for every resource, jump through every possible internal process hoop and been prohibited from hiring in outside talent with appropriate experience such as Olympics delivery experts”.

She added: “Not surprisingly this has been extremely stressful for them and they are stretched to the limit.

“I could not stand by and see this extraordinary opportunity fail for lack of any leadership and so have tried to intervene in some of the worst of the process and ambition blocks and maintain momentum but my intercessions have regretfully been perceived as undermining rather than supportive as is so often the case when “politicians” meddle with the workings of Whitehall.”

O’Neill also wrote that Scottish and UK governments are in an “extraordinary state of stand-off” over the conference preparations.

She added in the Today programme interview that Johnson had rejected with “salty” language her proposal to give Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon a job in the COP preparations.

O’Neill included officials in her criticism, writing that also fair to say that “some” have “found the need for action and real change to be threatening to the COP status quo – for some it is hard to give up on incrementalism even when it is demonstrably failing.”

She writes that COP talks process needed to be “re-energized and focused” in order to achieve “meaningful global action plan for climate recovery”.

“The annual UN talks are dogged by endless rows over agendas, ongoing unresolved splits over who should pay and insufficient attention and funding for adaptation and resilience.”