LONDON — Keir Starmer loves to play the climate leader. But only when his political advisers (and the powerful Chancellor Rachel Reeves) tell him he’s allowed.
The green-minded U.K. prime minister flies into the COP30 summit in Brazil on Thursday, armed with undeniable climate credentials.
His government is pressing ahead with a 2050 net-zero target, even as right-wing political rivals at home run away from it. It is about to hand 20-year contracts, laden with financial guarantees, to companies developing offshore wind farms. Just by attending COP, Starmer has shown he’s willing to publicly back the faltering global climate cause, despite furious attacks on the green agenda by close ally President Donald Trump.
But his claim to global leadership comes with a catch.
