The Government sent 470 delegates on a 5,000 mile round trip to the Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, it has emerged.
The large delegation, including seven ministers, more than 100 civil servants and two official videographers prompted allegations of net zero “hypocrisy” against the Government.
The UK registered 470 delegates to the summit, according to figures reported by the Mail on Sunday, compared with 405 from the US, 437 from Italy and 115 from France.
The large numbers were sent, despite some critics claiming that Cop29 had lost its importance as a global summit, with major leaders shunning the talks.
Emmanuel Macron of France, US President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping of China did not attend.
A number of experts, including former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, described the Cop29 talks as “no longer fit for purpose”.
But Sir Keir Starmer insisted that the UK was committed to standing alongside countries “on the front line of the climate crisis today and to seize the opportunities of tomorrow”.
The Mail on Sunday reported that the British delegation is estimated to have tallied 2.3 million air miles in total for return trips, with a total carbon footprint of at least 338 tons of carbon dioxide.
A spokesman for the Government insisted that “any carbon footprint” generated by the delegation “is dwarfed by the carbon prize of delivering our agenda”.
Richard Tice, the Reform MP, told the newspaper: “This is the Everest of hypocrisy. Public sector servants have wasted millions of pounds on a glorified net zero holiday”.
He added that while he could understand 30 or 40 attendees being sent by the UK, “ten times that is absolutely absurd”.
The British delegation was made up of 354 Government officials or ministers, with the remaining 116 including representatives from British overseas territories and crown dependencies, journalists, business figures and policy experts.
The Government contingent included more than 100 civil servants from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the official videographers for Sir Keir and David Lammy.
The Prime Minister used the summit to announce a new climate goal for the UK, including by reducing emissions by 81 per cent on 1990 levels by 2035.
He insisted while in Baku that reaching the new target will not involve his Government “telling people how to live their lives”.
But Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, claimed that the new target would lead to “hardship” for people.
She said last week that making “already stringent carbon emission targets even higher” would require a “shift away from meat and dairy” and “less travel”.
A UK Government spokesman told the Mail on Sunday: “Through our mission to become a clean energy superpower, we will protect bill payers and boost the UK’s energy independence.
“It is in Britain’s national interest to attend these summits. Any carbon footprint is dwarfed by the carbon prize of delivering our agenda.”
