Keir Starmer has jetted off to the UN's COP30 – but will anything actually come of it?

Keir Starmer is on his way to the UN’s largest climate change conference but he’s already being accused of being rather “unconvincing” in his commitment to the environment.

The prime minister will be meeting other world leaders on Thursday and Friday in Belém, Brazil, just before officials gather at the UN’s COP30, which will run from November 10 to 21.

What is COP30?

COP30 stands for the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, a UN-organised environmental summit which has been taking place every year since 1992.

It’s proven to be very instrumental in the global battle against climate change over the years.

It was at COP21 back in 2015 that more than 195 member states and the EU agreed to try and limit global warming to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial temperatures.

Why is there some scepticism around Starmer’s trip to COP30?

Starmer has been criticised by the Green Party for not putting environmental policies at the heart of his decisions since being elected.

New party leader Zack Polanski told HuffPost UK: “It’s really important that the prime minister is at climate negotiations.

“It’s also important that what he has to say is coherent – and whilst he’s refusing to rule out opening a new oil field at Rosebank, expanding airports and cutting the warmer homes programme – I’m not sure he’s going to be convincing many people who care about our climate commitments.”

Support for the Greens has surged since the party elected Zack Polanski as its new leader,

© HuffPost