Sunak’s net zero U-turn will hurt those he says he wants to help – Labour must stand up for them

Good green jobs … Kier Starmer talks to apprentices at Ørsted’s offshore windfarm facility in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on 10 November 2022. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

On Tuesday, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, told the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN general assembly that on the climate crisis, “actions are falling abysmally short” and that leaders should take “drastic steps now”. He also reminded the world that G20 countries were responsible for 80% of greenhouse emissions and that “they must lead”.

But Rishi Sunak was elsewhere, the first British prime minister in a decade to miss this opportunity to show international climate leadership. And just hours after the speech, news broke of his plans to weaken domestic climate commitments.