Mixed reactions have continued to trail Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he hasn’t confirmed his attendance to this year’s world climate change conference in Egypt, COP27.
Sunak had earlier expressed doubts about attending this year’s COP27. He attributed his possible absence ‘to other pressing domestic commitments’.
While some Londoners believe that Sunak should be at the conference, others feel it should not be the priority, rather the action taken by the government.
Maria, 23, told Westminster World that Sunak has a lot of work to do but the companies should also take action. She said: “All these summits and conferences are important as long as there is an action taken from them”.
John, an author who lives in London, had a strong opinion on Sunak’s position: “The idea of just considering it is ridiculous”. He added that this was not just a UK issue, stating: “The issue of climate change is the most important thing on anybody’s agenda, any government anywhere.”
Alex, a retired civil servant, noted that the UK is one of the most popular European countries and its Prime Minister, should be at the summit.
Vee, a hotel worker, thinks otherwise. He says: “It wouldn’t make sense just to attend and not have a game plan. I think he need to strategise before he attends”.
Because of the lack of action taken by world leaders, activists have taken it upon themselves to make their voices heard through the ‘Just Stop Oil‘ movement. Their aim is to end the reliance on fossil fuels within the next 8 years as well as forbidding the “extraction of new oil and gas resources”. They have been known to throw canned food at protected paintings and stopping traffic to protest.
Rachel, 26, agrees with this type of protesting, saying that “Stopping the roads gets people’s attention.” However, she doubts its effectiveness given that “The government doesn’t seem to be actioning it”.
Despite now being protected by the police, those protests are far from garnering general approval, as Vee notes: “I don’t think protesting does anything. It’s a conversation, but I don’t think being a public nuisance is the way to go about making a point”.
Edited by: Rishab Shaju & Titus D’souza