Starmer warns against climate ‘inaction’ as Trump looms over COP29

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Keir Starmer warned that “the path of inaction” on climate change will lead to global insecurity at a COP29 summit overshadowed by the re-election of Donald Trump and the threat of the U.S. walking away from its environmental commitments.

Speaking on the day world leaders met to set the direction of the two-week conference, Starmer said there are “two paths ahead” on climate as he positioned the U.K. as a “first mover” on green investment and emissions cuts.

While insisting he was did not want to “start sending messages” to the president-elect — who as recently as last week called climate change a “hoax” — Starmer said the “lesson from history” was that countries that acted early during energy transitions would reap the benefits.

“The way I see it, there are two paths ahead,” Starmer said at a press conference at the Baku summit on Tuesday. “One, the path of inaction and delay leading to further decline and vulnerability. Warming above 1.5C will expose hundreds of thousands more people in the U.K. to flood risk, greater economic instability and national insecurity.

“Or second, the path we walk, eyes wide open not just to the challenges of today, but also fixed firmly on the opportunities of tomorrow. This is the path towards national security, energy independence and the economic stability necessary to boost living standards for working people.”

There can be “no global security without climate security,” he added.

Starmer has used the summit to announce a new U.K. climate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 81 percent by 2035, from 1990 levels.

Asked whether the stretching target would include changes to people’s lifestyles such as cutting back on meat consumption, Starmer said: “We’re not going to do is start telling people how to live their lives.” He emphasized the importance of his government’s plan to cut gas from the U.K.’s electricity system by 2030 as a major contributor to the climate target.