Keir Starmer defends his ‘jet setting’ away from Britain as he embarks on 15th trip abroad since coming to office – but HOW much CO2 has been emitted by the PM’s plane?

The Prime Minister’s latest jaunt abroad to Brazil is the 15th time he has been out of the country since being elected in July.

Sir Keir Starmer’s four-day trip to Rio for the G20 – where he said his focus is delivering a ‘better future’ for Britain – means he will have ventured outside of Britain for more than three weeks in total since summer.

This includes time in Ireland, Italy, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Washington DC, France, Azerbaijan and a five-day trip to Samoa.

He also flew to New York for the UN General Assembly after the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool in September.

In the same period, MPs have only sat for 34 days in the House of Commons to work on legislation and delivering the government’s agenda.

Overall, 16 of the Prime Minister’s 136 days in No 10 will have been spent on planes. Prior to the Rio trip, this resulted in an estimated 920,065kg of CO2 being emitted by the Airbus A321 usually used by the Prime Minister. This figure could breach one million kilograms by the time he returns from Brazil.

The Prime Minister has been forced to defend his constant jet-setting, suggesting he prefers to meet world leaders in person rather than talk over the phone.

‘The question is what am I spending my time doing, not where I am,’ he said earlier this month.

Beach Leme and Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sir Keir has said the focus of his four-day trip will be delivering a ‘better future’ for Britain

‘I think the best way to build good relations that are based on trust and respect is face to face. I’m a big believer in face-to-face engagement.’

Questions have been raised over Sir Keir’s travel in the early months of his premiership, especially after he said he preferred networking at the World Economic Forum in Davos to operating in Westminster, which he branded a ‘tribal shouting place’.

The Prime Minister’s appearance at COP29 in Baku was an anomaly amongst world leaders – others such as US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and under-pressure German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declined to attend.

Sir Keir did not address their absences when asked. He said: ‘We are here to show leadership, we are here because I see this not only as one of the most important challenges we face globally but one of the most important opportunities.’

No 10 insiders have suggested that the Prime Minister is front-loading his international trips and will be more sparing with his travel as his time in office goes on.

Sir Keir speaking at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The PM’s appearance at the event was in contrast to the absence of many prominent world leaders including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron

 Energy and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband addressing COP29. The UK’s delegation to Baku included 354 Government officials or ministers, despite rhetoric about Net Zero and slashing carbon emissions.

But he has also been accused of hypocrisy after it emerged that the UK sent 470 delegates to the COP29 summit, despite the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about reaching Net Zero and slashing carbon emissions.

The British contingent at COP29 included seven government ministers, eight private secretaries, four backbench MPs and four peers, according to the Mail on Sunday. More than 100 civil servants from Ed Miliband’s Energy department are registered to attend, along with more than 30 officials from No 10.

This compared with the 405 from the US, 111 from India, 437 from Italy 325 from Germany and 115 from France. Overall, they racked up an estimated 338 tons of CO2. Labour MP Graham Stringer said: ‘There are more private jets and large jets going to Baku than anywhere else at the moment. It’s a complete waste of money.’

‘They don’t seem to have noticed that although they claim leadership of Net Zero, nobody is following. It would have been a bigger commitment to reducing carbon dioxide if they’d sent [Miliband] and nobody else.’