Hypocrisy is never far away from this government – Alok Sharma is the latest to show that

Sharma – who was appointed as president of Cop26 in January – has faced criticism for reportedly flying to 30 countries in the past seven months as part of the role, writes Chris Stevenson

‘The government have defended Sharma – who is currently in Brazil’ (EPA)

Leading the Cop26 climate summit was never going to be easy – the world as a whole has a lot of work to battle the crisis we are facing.

Marshalling this event obviously requires face-to-face meetings and travel, but Alok Sharma – who was appointed as president of Cop26 in January – has faced criticism for reportedly flying to 30 countries in the past seven months as part of the role.

The Green party peer Jenny Jones said that while meetings were needed, this "is excessive" and that to take that many flights when you are head of Cop26 "is hypocritical". The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford said this many trips “undermines the effort” of others to cut their emissions".

"In the way that we think about the contribution we can make," he added, "we need the people at the very top to be demonstrating that they are doing that too, not thinking that that is for other people to carry that burden.”

It is difficult to argue with the point, particularly at a time when we have all had to get used to video conferences and remote working. There are arguments that face-to-face diplomacy will always be preferable – and that may be true – but it has to be weighed up against the thousands of miles travelled and the impact on the environment (and the message it sends).

Critics may have been more willing to recognise the job Sharma has to do, if not for the fact that this government and hypocrisy hadn't crossed paths so many times. Not least when Boris Johnson flew down to Cornwall for the G7 summit in June, rather than taking the train. Johnson brushed off those concerns by saying: "If you attack my arrival by plane, I respectfully point out that the UK is actually in the lead in developing sustainable aviation fuel." Which is an answer, but not a very convincing one.

The government have defended Sharma – who is currently in Brazil – saying that face-to-face meetings are "key" to the success of climate negotiations and "understanding first-hand the opportunities and challenges other countries are facing in the fight against climate change." Sharma is not the only one to have made a number of trips, the US special envoy for climate John Kerry, has made official visits to Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Germany and South Korea this year.

The shadow justice secretary, David Lammy told Sky News that the "optics are very clear, it's one rule for them and another rule for us". It is this, as touched on by Drakeford, that will rankle with many – the burden not being felt by those at the top.

The "one rule for them" accusation gains credence when you add in the fact that Sharma did not quarantine on his return from the trips, including from red list countries, such as Bangladesh and Turkey. "Crown servants" – or government ministers – are exempt from this rule if they travel to carry out "essential government work".

The government has to be careful – talk of hypocrisy, especially when it has merit, cannot be allowed to undermine the far bigger goal: tackling the climate crisis.