Thursday 13 February 2020

Alok Sharma in charge of COP26 climate summit and BEIS

Alok Sharma in charge of COP26 climate summit and BEIS

Alok Sharma has been appointed as Minister for the COP26 climate change summit taking place in Glasgow later this year.

He will be in charge of the UN climate summit, replacing Claire Perry O’Neill, who was sacked as President of the event just six months into her role.

The conference in November is expected to attract more than 30,000 delegates from around the world, including business leaders and climate experts, to commit to ambitious action to tackle climate change.

The MP for Reading West is also replacing Andrea Leadsom - who was sacked this morning as part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s reshuffle - as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

He held the International Development Secretary role since July 2019 prior to working as Employment Minister at the Department of Work and Pensions.

Before entering Parliament, Mr Sharma qualified as a chartered accountant and worked within banking for 16 years, holding senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt.

As Business and Energy Secretary, he will be responsible for business, industrial strategy, science, innovation and energy.

That includes developing and delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy and leading the government’s relationship with business, ensuring the UK has secure energy supplies that are reliable, affordable and clean, tackling climate change as well as ensuring the country remains at the leading edge of science, research and innovation.

MP for Bromsgrove Sajid Javid has quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer – Rishi Sunak MP has been appointed to take his place.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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