CLIMATE campaigners slammed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for having “fingers in his ears” on environmental issues today as new data revealed record-breaking temperatures in Britain.
Greenpeace said Mr Sunak’s government will be remembered as one of “climate failure” thanks to its lack of action on tackling emissions, after provisional data showed that Britain had its second warmest year on record in 2023, beaten only by record heat the year before.
A government spokesperson said the Tories are “committed” to meeting their net zero targets, and boasted that they were “world leaders in cutting emissions.”
But Greenpeace UK policy director Doug Parr said that Mr Sunak “has his fingers in his ears” despite “climate alarm bells ringing” following back-to-back years of record temperatures.
He said: “There is massive voter support for climate action and you’d think this news would call for an emergency response from the UK government — a plan to cut temperature-rising emissions further and faster.
“But our Prime Minister’s newest plans consist of ramping up oil and gas drilling in the North Sea and delaying key policies that would slash emissions from cars and housing — or scrapping them altogether.
“Unless Sunak reverses these decisions and delivers the kind of bold policies needed to tackle the climate crisis, his likely short premiership will be marked as one of climate failure.”
In 2023, Mr Sunak hit pause on a proposed ban on new petrol and diesel cars, delaying it from 2030 to 2035.
The Tories have also granted oil licences in the North Sea and face legal action from climate groups, including Greenpeace, over plans to develop Rosebank oil field, Britain’s largest undeveloped site.
As the government turns a blind eye to the impact of its policies, the Met Office said that last year’s record temperatures have changed from a one-in-500-year to a one-in-three-year event.
Bob Ward, of LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: “This warming has been accompanied by sea level rise around our coasts, more intense rainfall and more deadly heatwaves, all of which are harming a growing number of lives and livelihoods in the UK.”
