Starmer should go to COP to counter Trump, says former UK climate minister

“It was a really important moment when Keir went to COP last year,” McCarthy said. “Particularly because Trump had just won the election, that left a vacuum in terms of international leadership and it was very much seen that the U.K. [stepped in].”

Now, with Trump stepping up his attacks on the climate agenda in last week’s United Nations speech, McCarthy said Starmer should go to this year’s COP “to signal that there is still that intent to show leadership.”

“There are so many Americans I have met since the Trump win who want to say ‘he doesn’t speak for us,’” McCarthy added.

Starmer attended the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan in 2024 and announced an ambitious new U.K. greenhouse gas emissions target for 2035.

McCarthy, however, conceded that it was probably fruitless to try to lobby Trump directly on climate change. “I’m not sure how useful it would be to have a conversation, given the extent to which he has disengaged,” she said.

No. 10 Downing Street was approached for comment.