COP27: Boris Johnson calls for the UK to “double down on green technology”

Day 1 of the Climate Action Innovation Zone began with a New York Times Climate Forward Conversation, where NYT climate correspondent Max Bearak interviewed Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the UK. Johnson dived straight in with a description of his morning swim off the coral reefs: “90% of our coral reefs around the world face extinction… as a result of anthropogenic climate change.”

The Climate Action Innovation Zone, organised by Climate Action, runs parallel to the negotiations led by the COP27 Egyptian Presidency. Located 300m from the Blue Zone and with independent badging, the Innovation Zone is a hub of innovation and investment, promoting cross-sector public-private partnerships in addressing the climate emergency.

Speaking on the launch day of the zone, Johnson spoke of the spirit of COP26 in Glasgow and despite the forward-looking decisions made there, “how much damage has been done in just one year to our great common purpose of tackling man made climate change… This thing is real. You can see the effects of it around the world. And we've… got to do much, much more.” He talked of the “catastrophic” deforestation that continues, despite the Glasgow Declaration on Forests. 

Addressing climate justice

Although he did not address the idea of reparations directly, Johnson did talk about the “fundamental unfairness” of imposing costs on “countries that did not cause this crisis, because they did not pump the carbon out there 200 years ago, as we did in the UK.” He went on to say: “So that's why this has to be a joint global endeavour… to protect the climate vulnerable countries around the world… and to help the developing world to adapt to a low carbon future…”

Financing green technology  

Johnson pointed out that “the big issue here is cash – it's always about cash.” He went on to describe “investing in worldwide green solutions” as a “huge commercial opportunity… Let's look at what we can do to trigger private sector investment and fix the problem now.” He talked of offshore wind: “now the cheapest form of energy in the UK… and it will get cheaper and cheaper. Nobody would have believed that possible 20 years ago” and continued: “This is a moment to double down on green technology, to double down on wind power and clean green solutions… We need to… use the muscle of the governments, use the muscle of the MDBs [multilateral development banks] to leverage in massive private sector investments.”

Tackling the “nonsense” of the “naysayers” 

Boris Johnson addressed those attempting to decelerate the green transition in the name of energy security: “I believe that… the fight against climate change has been one of the most important collateral victims [of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine] because [of] the spike in oil and gas prices and the consequent global inflation… have led some of the naysayers to adopt a corrosive cynicism about net zero and people have started to say we all went too far and too fast and that we've been naive and utopian in our rush to move beyond hydrocarbons that we've inflicted needless energy costs on our populations… There are people who have drawn the conclusion that the whole project of net zero needs to be delayed, mothballed and put on ice… for instance, we need to reopen coal fired power stations and frack the hell out of the British countryside. And so I believe that here at Sharm is a moment where we really have to tackle this nonsense head on.”

Johnson continued: “I believe that the critics of this agenda… massively underestimate the ability of the human race to harness the natural world to come up with innovative zero carbon solutions. In the first half of this year alone, China has created 55 gigawatts of renewable energy – that's more than half the total daily needs of the UK. America is actually going to decarbonize its grid fully by 2035. That's two of the greatest polluters on the planet, showing the can-do spirit that will get us out of this mess. And here in Egypt they are soon going to be making the first zero emission vehicles manufactured in Africa. So I think this is the moment to put the electric throttle to the floor… leapfrog hydrocarbons to go green and to create what I believe I know will be an inexhaustible stream of high wage, high skill, jobs and jobs that have the extra and unbeatable satisfaction of knowing that you're not only helping to feed your family, but helping to save the planet at the same time.”

Keeping 1.5 alive

He concluded: “We have in our hands the ability to fix this problem. The only way forward is by patient negotiation and compromise… and investment in the right technology… both at home and abroad… [We need to] keep up our campaign to end global dependence on hydrocarbons and if we retain the spirit of creative optimism… that we saw Glasgow then I think we can keep alive the hope of restricting the rising temperatures to 1.5 – keep 1.5 alive.” 

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