Boris Johnson’s climate pitch has left him with nowhere to hide

By positioning himself front and centre of the build-up to the COP26 conference, the prime minister is leaving himself open to scrutiny, writes Isabella Kaminski

Boris Johnson speaks during the launch of the UK-hosted COP26 UN climate summit (Getty)

The prime minister has left himself and the UK with nowhere to hide by taking a leading role in the forthcoming climate summit. Launching a “year of climate action” yesterday morning in the run-up to the COP26 conference in November, Boris Johnson attempted to position the UK as a world leader on tackling climate change and called on other countries to follow suit in setting a mandatory net-zero goal.

But the event was overshadowed by a personal attack on Johnson by Claire Perry O’Neill, the summit’s former president who was unceremoniously sacked last week.

In a letter obtained by the Financial Times, Perry O’Neill accused the prime minister of not meeting his promises to “lead from the front”. She later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Johnson had admitted he “doesn’t really get” climate change.