Climate Deniers Are Increasingly Hiding in Plain Sight

Less than a year after Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the world from Azerbaijan that he wants the UK to lead on cutting carbon emissions, he’s reportedly planning to skip the all-important November COP30 United Nations climate conference in Brazil. He heads just one of many supposedly environmentally conscious administrations reneging on promises. Yet US President Donald Trump’s loud skepticism attracts most of the attention, we risk pardoning the world’s leaders for backtracking on their climate promises.

Starmer’s decision on COP30 isn’t yet finalized, but there’s a fight within Downing Street over it because aides are worried about being criticized by the Reform UK party. If he doesn’t go, the move would be not only completely hypocritical – he criticized Rishi Sunak for skipping COP27 in 2022 – but make his previously stated climate ambitions look insincere or, at best, weak.