Spain’s Environment Minister Teresa Ribera also said the “absurd” political debate on climate change in the UK was “absurd and disappointing”. Speaking to the Guardian ahead of this year’s Sharm El Sheikh summit, the minister said Europe needed to be strategic, transparent and targeted – especially after a report found temperatures on the continent have risen to more than double the global average term. the last 30 years. Ribera, who is one of Spain’s three deputy prime ministers, also insisted the UK had an important role to play in tackling the climate emergency. He pointed out that the country still retains the Cop chairmanship after last year’s summit and said he had been concerned by Sunak’s initial refusal to attend the conference and the British government’s decision to ask that King Charles not go to the talks. “I was very surprised by that,” he said. “I think there has been a lot of commentary on social media, but you have to remember that the UK still holds the presidency of one of the most important multilateral UN forums, a forum called upon to respond to global challenges. “And it is strange that they would limit the presence of the head of state and question the presence of the prime minister. Considering everything the UK has for so long when it comes to analyzing global problems and proposing global solutions, it’s very sad to see this debate.” While Ribera welcomed Sunak’s reversal when she attended, she said she hoped it would be more than an “indicative step” and would be coupled with substantive policies. “What matters is internal action, and I think that’s another of the lessons we’ve seen with the election of Lula [Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the new president] in Brazil now and with the elections in Australia [won by Labor] and in so many other places,” he said. “The fight against climate change is not classified in the police – it is classified in the ballot boxes of every country. And I think it’s important that the British Prime Minister makes it clear that his commitment is what we expect from a country like the United Kingdom.” Regardless of which party was in power in the UK, he added, the government “cannot be allowed to fall on the same side as [climate crisis] refusers or laggards’. Ribera acknowledged that Sunak had not won office through a general election, but noted that the downfall of his two predecessors had “a lot to do” with how they had dealt with social problems. The minister – an environment veteran who was Spain’s foreign minister for climate change from 2008 to 2011 – admitted that explaining the injustice, inequality and suffering caused by the failure to tackle the climate emergency was difficult, as breaking old habits. “But while it’s one thing for these inertias and tensions to be normal, I expect a lot more of us who are able to facilitate decisions,” he said. “The important thing is how we react in the face of this turmoil… That is why it is surprising and disappointing that you are having this absurd debate in the UK. That’s why it’s amazing and disappointing that people still talk about things in such a backward and very selfish way. It shows that there are many people who either have not understood anything, or who deliberately want to hide [climate] change means’. Ribera said Spain’s recent summer of record temperatures and devastating wildfires was “a very significant shock” to public opinion. The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “I think people are realizing that climate change is not something that is far away in time or space,” he said. “That it’s not just something for polar bears or their great-grandchildren. We live with it and it affects us in a much more horizontal way than the average citizen once imagined.” Ribera said she hoped Spain – the European country most threatened by desertification – could act as a bridge to countries in the Sahel and Central America that are already facing problems with water, food security and loss of quality. ground. He also said the international community must stop ignoring “the big elephant in the room” and do more to anticipate the foreseeable disasters of the coming decades. “Obviously, drought, desertification and poverty mean tension, conflict and migration or Boko Haram,” he said. “There are problems that we still have time to deal with – if we are serious about adaptation policies and their financing. I say politics because it’s not just about money. There must be the ability to use these resources.” If world leaders were to commit to mitigating the worst disasters of the climate emergency, Ribera said, they needed to be clear, calm, decisive and persuasive. “It’s vital to be very transparent with explanations but also very intentional about how we solve these problems,” he said. “We can’t just rely on shocking people, because if you do that, the reaction is: ‘Carpe diem.’ And we can’t just settle for medium- and long-term ideas: we have to be very intentional about the short-term as well.”