PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak was accused today of a “massive failure of leadership” after pulling out of the Cop27 climate summit, due to be held next week in Egypt. 

Shadow secretary for climate change Ed Miliband said that the decision was an “embarrassing reflection” of the Tory government’s failure to deliver on its Cop26 commitments during the summit in Glasgow last year. 

“This is a massive failure of climate leadership,” he said.

The PM insisted he was “personally committed” to tackling the climate crisis despite skipping the United Nations summit in Sharm el Sheikh, where Britain will hand over the Cop26 presidency to Egypt on November 6. 

Speaking to reporters, Mr Sunak said he was right to focus on the “depressing domestic challenges we have with the economy.” 

But green groups argue that the decision, which comes days after Mr Sunak booted Cop26 President Alok Sharma from the Cabinet, suggests the new PM does not take the climate crisis seriously enough.

Greenpeace UK head of politics Rebecca Newsom said: “The UK government is supposed to hand over the Cop presidency to their Egyptian counterparts at next month’s summit. 

“For Rishi Sunak not to show up is like a runner failing to turn up with the baton at a crucial stage of the relay. 

“Coming just after the ousting of Alok Sharma from the Cabinet, this suggests that the new Prime Minister neither takes the climate crisis seriously enough, nor recognises the opportunities for Britain to take a leadership role in helping to solve it.”

Cop26 Coalition spokesperson and War on Want director Asad Rehman said: “The government is turning its back on the very summit that it claimed it was leading, while declaring war on the environment, planet and people.

“From planet wrecking new coal, oil and gas, to cuts in overseas aid, to refusing to put in place windfall taxes on the obscene profits of fossil fuel companies such as Shell, the government’s agenda goes beyond being a climate laggard to a climate criminal.”

Mr Sunak was also forced to admit that the government is due to miss the deadline for flagship targets to clean up Britain’s waters and boost biodiversity. 

Labour shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon MP described the government’s failure to meet the legal deadline on its Environment Act targets as a “monumental dereliction of duty.”

It comes as the UN environmental agency warned on Thursday that there is “no credible pathway to 1.5°C” due to nations’ inadequate carbon-cutting pledges.