Boris Johnson has declared himself “the spirit of Glasgow” at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
As world leaders assembled at the annual meeting, the former prime minister was speaking at a fringe event in Sharm el Sheikh.
He said: “I’m the spirit of Glasgow, that’s what I’m doing here. I’m the spirit of Glasgow COP26.”
Johnson also suggested the soaring temperatures in London over the summer may have contributed to the political turmoil which led to his exit from No 10.
In an apparently tongue-in-cheek comment at a New York Times Climate Forward event, he said: “Temperatures in London this July reached 40C, which is unprecedented and almost unbearable by United Kingdom standards – perhaps even contributing, who knows, to unexpected political turmoil that we saw in Westminster at that time.”
Johnson warned the fight against climate change had become a “collateral victim” of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with countries questioning the goal of cutting emissions at a time of soaring energy prices.
In a swipe at Tories – including successor Liz Truss – he warned against calls to revive fracking in the UK.
Truss had planned to lift the ban on fracking in England but Rishi Sunak reinstated it.
“There are people who have drawn the conclusion that the whole project of net zero needs to be delayed, mothballed and put on ice – for instance we need to reopen coal-fired power stations and frack the hell out of the British countryside,” he said.
The former PM said the summit in Egypt was a time to “tackle this nonsense head on”.
“Yes, of course, we do need to use hydrocarbons in the transitional period and, yes, in the UK there is more that we can do with our own domestic resources,” he said.
“However, this is not the moment to abandon the campaign for net zero, this is not the moment to turn our backs on renewable technology.”
Nicola Sturgeon is attending the summit and will speak as part of a panel on Tuesday entitled, On the Verge of Progress: Where Will COP27 Take Us?
On Monday she said there was an obligation on richer countries that have largely caused climate change to help those suffering the impact of it.
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