Keir Starmer will attend Cop30 in Brazil, No 10 confirms | Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer will travel to the Amazon rainforest for the United Nations climate summit next month, Downing Street has confirmed, after weeks of speculation that he would not.

Number 10 said on Monday the Prime Minister would travel to Belém, Brazil, for what experts say will be the most important Cop meeting since Paris in 2015.

Aides had advised Starmer, who had previously been criticized for spending so much time out of the country, not to attend the summit.

However, his spokesperson said on Monday: “The Prime Minister will attend the Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, next month because net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, one that has the potential to revive our industrial hearts, create good jobs for the future and reduce bills in the long term.

“That’s why we’re re-establishing the UK as a world leader on climate action and green growth. And you can expect to see the Prime Minister driving this agenda forward at next month’s summit. The UK is a world leader on climate action and tackling climate change will remain an urgent priority for the UK and the world.”

The government is divided on how to defend its green agenda, given concerns about rising energy bills and increasingly unified opposition from Britain’s Conservatives and reformers to net zero targets.

Starmer attended last year’s COP in Azerbaijan and in 2023 he criticized the opposition’s Rishi Sunak when the then prime minister initially said he would not visit Dubai.

Since Labor came to power, it has made a number of green decisions, including overturning a de facto ban on onshore wind power and creating a new investment organization to invest in clean energy.

The Financial Times reported last month that Starmer’s aides were arguing over whether the Prime Minister should attend Cop30.

Some would have argued that “the reform [UK] voters don’t think climate is important and the Mail and Sun [newspapers] complain that Starmer spent a record number of days abroad.

Labor is under pressure not only from the Reform Party but also from the Green Party, whose support and membership have increased since Zack Polanski took over as party leader. Polanski warned it would be a “huge abdication of responsibility” if the prime minister did not travel to Brazil.

Starmer’s parliamentary colleagues also urged him to attend the summit. Polly Billington, MP for East Thanet, told the Guardian last month: “I know the difference leaders make when they are present. It focuses negotiators’ minds on getting the best possible deal – and that is necessary, when we see how fragile the consensus on tackling climate change is.”