Why is Rishi Sunak going to COP?

Whoever Rishi Sunak is taking his advice from, evidently it isn’t me. Last Friday I wrote here supporting his decision to skip COP27 in Egypt, arguing that it is futile trying to persuade the big carbon emitters like China and the US to follow our example and make a legal commitment to eliminating net carbon emissions by 2050 or by any other date – unlike us they simply aren’t going to take a blind leap into a green future without first knowing how they are going to achieve it without ruining their economies.

This week’s announcement by German industrials giant BASF that it is to reduce operations in Europe, where it says energy has become too expensive, and invest in a £10 billion factory in China instead ought to come as a very loud warning that Europe is in danger of simply exporting its industry as it doggedly tries to stick to unachievable net zero targets.