EeHH.CO.UK

When Liz Truss was premier, a 'unanimous agreement' was reached that the King should not attend after advice was sought by his office from the Government.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said on Thursday it was now not 'logistically feasible' for the King to join the gathering at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

She said about Mr Sunak, who only took office last week following the dramatic resignation of Ms Truss: 'We do recognise that had the Prime Minister been in post earlier, the situation might have been different but it is not logistically feasible at this late stage.'

A Buckingham Palace spokesman reiterated there had been 'unanimous agreement' with the Government that the King would not travel to the summit.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma, who will be handing over presidency to Egypt at the summit, was also invited to the palace reception.

Mr Sunak's U-turn came as his predecessor Boris Johnson confirmed he would attend, having made the environment a key plank of his premiership. But they will not be sharing a plane.

On Twitter, Mr Sunak said: 'There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables. 

'That is why I will attend Cop27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow's legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.'

The PM previously said he had to focus on Britain's 'depressing domestic challenges' but faced growing pressure to join leaders at next week's conference.

Mr Sunak changed his mind on attending the Sharm El-Sheikh gathering after making 'good progress' on those domestic matters, including the Autumn Statement later this month, according to Downing Street.

'He has always recognised the importance of this summit and indeed on tacking climate change more generally,'  said the PM's official spokesman.

'We wanted to make sure we were making good progress on the Government's domestic agenda and the Autumn Statement in particular.

'Following discussions with the Chancellor [Jeremy Hunt] this week he has now agreed to attend. The PM feels there is sufficient space to make this trip.'

The spokesman said Mr Sunak was hoping to make progress on the commitment to halt deforestation by 2030 and to agree new partnerships on clean and renewable energy.

Britain's King Charles III (L) speaks with Brian Moynihan (2nd L), chairman and CEO of Bank of America and co-chairman of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, John Kerry (C), US special presidential envoy for climate and Cop26 president Alok Sharma© Provided by Daily Mail

Rishi Sunak praised King's 50-year commitment to climate change and quotes the Queen in speech to VIPs  

The PM's predecessor, Liz Truss, is claimed to have objected to His Majesty attending the Egypt summit during an audience at Buckingham Palace last month.

A Palace spokesperson said: 'As has been made clear previously, in unanimous agreement with Government His Majesty will not be attending Cop27.

'His focus is on the pre-Cop reception at Buckingham Palace, where senior business leaders, experts and NGOs can discuss the important work of the summit and explore ways in which public-private partnership can help tackle climate change.

'His Majesty looks forward to hosting the PM and other global leaders at the event.' 

Labour's shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said: 'The PM has been shamed into going to Cop27 by the torrent of disbelief that he would fail to turn up. 

'He is going to avoid embarrassment, not to provide leadership.'

Labour had called Mr Sunak's decision to skip Cop27 a 'massive failure of leadership'. 

Britain hosted Cop26 in Glasgow last year and holds its presidency until the start of the next summit. 

The Prime Minister's own climate adviser Mr Sharma had said he was 'disappointed' that Mr Sunak was not planning to attend.

But he praised the PM's U-turn. 

The outgoing Cop26 president tweeted: 'Delighted that @RishiSunak is attending Cop27 – completely agree with his comment that ''there is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change''.'

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak had been 'dragged kicking and screaming into doing the right thing' after he committed to attend the Cop27 climate summit. 'Embarrassing,' she added.

The decision of Mr Johnson - Mr Sunak's arch-rival and former Downing Street neighbour - to attend made it even harder for the PM to resist going.

Mr Johnson told Sky News he would be attending, adding: 'I was invited by the Egyptians so I'm very happy to go.'

Asked if his successor in No 10 should go too, he said Mr Sunak has a 'massive amount to do' with the Government's domestic agenda, adding: 'I happen to have a particular interest.'

Mr Johnson argued it has become 'unfashionable' to talk about Cop26.

'I want to talk a little bit about how I see things and how we see things in the UK,' Mr Johnson added.

Initially Downing Street said Mr Sunak would not be attending because he must focus on the 'depressing domestic challenges', as he works on the autumn Budget.

But on Monday he changed tack, with No 10 saying that the decision was now 'under review' as 'substantial progress' was being made on his economic plans.

Rachel Kennerley, international climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: 'It would have been a remarkable own goal for the Prime Minister to miss this year's UN climate talks as the UK's own presidency draws to a close, so it's good that he's seen sense and decided to attend. 

'But simply showing up won't be enough. The UK government has a lot of work to do to rebuild its climate reputation after a year of rowing back on commitments made in Glasgow. 

'The PM quashed plans to revive fracking which was a good start to his tenure. If the UK expects to be taken seriously at the negotiating table, then the government must scrap plans for new oil and gas in the North Sea and say no to the UK's first deep coal mine in 30 years.'