Rishi Sunak promises to meet Britain’s climate commitments in a ‘more pragmatic way’.

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday rejected claims that he had lowered his country’s net-zero ambitions and vowed to achieve the targets in a more pragmatic way.

At a press conference, Mr Sunak, who spent just a few hours at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, pledged £1.6 billion, or about $2 billion, for international climate finance projects including for renewable energy and forests, marking a pledge to spend a total of £11.6 billion over five years.

Mr Sunak said Britain was “leading by example”, but then quickly added that the excessive costs of the net zero transition should not be borne by ordinary Britons.

“We can’t tackle climate change unless we take people with us,” he said. “Climate politics is on the verge of breaking.”

“The British people care about the environment,” added Mr Sunak, who is trailing in opinion polls ahead of an election likely next year. “They know the costs of inaction are unbearable, but they also know we have choices about how we act. So yes, we will achieve our targets, but we will do it in a more pragmatic way that does not burden working people.”

Mr Sunak has recently stressed his determination to keep costs down for Britons, whose living standards are under pressure from inflation as their economy stagnates.

That emphasis on Friday from the British prime minister was in stark contrast to the more idealistic tone of King Charles III, a lifelong supporter of environmental causes, who told leaders earlier at the same meeting that “the hope of the world” rested on the decisions they made. would take. taken.

Britain is considered one of the world leaders in the fight against climate change, but this year Mr Sunak signaled a policy shift when he said he would delay a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by five years, and lower targets for climate change. replacement of gas boilers.

That followed a surprise victory in July’s parliamentary elections in north-west London, where his Conservative Party campaigned against moves by the city’s Labor mayor to expand an air quality initiative that increased pay for drivers of older, more polluting vehicles.

On Friday, Mr Sunak emphasized pragmatism in climate policy, even as he insisted Britain had “done more than others so far” and would continue to do so.

When asked about the short duration of his visit and why he would spend more time in his plane than on the ground in Dubai, Mr Sunak said: “I wouldn’t measure our impact here by the hours we spent . I would measure it by the actual things we do.”