UK environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigns, accuses Rishi Sunak of neglecting climate change

UK environment minister Lord Zac Goldsmith has tendered his resignation citing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's lack of interest in addressing climate change, media reports said. Lord Goldsmith expressed his dismay for "uninterested" Sunak and the government's indifference towards environmental issues, which led him to find it "untenable" to continue serving as the environment minister.

His resignation letter strongly criticised the government's abandonment of environmental commitments and withdrawal of global leadership. Lord Goldsmith highlighted the abandonment of the flagship animal welfare bill and the failure to fulfil a pledge to allocate £11.6 billion ($14.7bn) of UK aid to climate and environmental initiatives.

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This comes after Lord Goldsmith was accused of undermining a parliamentary investigation into former UK prime minister Boris Johnson's actions in the Partygate scandal. The committee identified Lord Goldsmith as one of ten Conservative Party members involved in an effort to interfere with the probe.

"The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our prime minister, are simply uninterested," he wrote in the resignation letter, adding, "That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis."

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The resignation follows a warning from the Climate Change Committee, a government climate watchdog, which stated that the UK had lost its leadership position on climate issues.

Political responses

Both the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties had called for Lord Goldsmith's resignation following the publication of the Privileges Committee report.

A verbal spatunfolded between Lord Zac Goldsmith and Rishi Sunak, following Sunak's claim that Lord Goldsmith refused to apologise for criticising a Commons investigation into Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"You were asked to apologise for your comments about the Privileges Committee as we felt they were incompatible with your position as a Minister of the Crown. You have decided to take a different course," Sunak said adding, Lord Goldsmith had been "a vocal advocate of some of the most important issues that the UK and the world face today".

Sunak also assured that "UK continues to play an important role globally in tackling climate change and preserving the environment."

Lord Goldsmith's response

Lord Zac Goldsmith has responded strongly to Rishi Sunak's allegations that the former ministerdeclined to apologise and asserted that the prime minister's claim was "wrong".

"I am happy to apologise for publicly sharing my views on the Privilege Committee," said Lord Goldsmith adding, "I firmly believe our parliamentary democracy can only be strengthened by robust scrutiny, and parliamentarians should of course be free to be critical of its reports and proceedings.

"But as a minister I shouldn't have commented publicly. No 10 asked me to acknowledge that, and made clear that there was no question of my being 'sacked' if I did so. I was - and am - happy to do so. My decision to step down has been a long time coming," he said.

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As a long-standing ally of former primeminister Boris Johnson, Lord Goldsmith's criticismof Rishi Sunak carriesweight and may have caused significant damage.

Privileges Committee Report

The Privileges Committee report said "unprecedented and coordinated pressure" was put on its members during their investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled the parliament regarding lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Lord Goldsmith's tweet expressing support for those who considered the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "kangaroo court" was cited as evidence. Other Tories named in the report claimed that the committee was attempting to stifle freedom of speech.

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