He spoke out after his rethink in green policy was met with a backlash from opposition lawmakers, environmental campaigners, the car industry and even some MPs from his Conservative Party.
Sunak had told a news conference on Wednesday that the UK was adopting a more "pragmatic, proportionate and realistic" approach to meeting the net zero target.
The new strategy will include the pushing back of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.
The prime minister also announced an easing of energy efficiency targets for rental properties and backtracked on plans to make homeowners replace gas boilers with heat pumps.
The chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, called his policy shift "wishful thinking" and said the UK now didn't have the policy package to hit its targets.
But Sunak said in an interview with the BBC: "We are absolutely not slowing down efforts to combat climate change. I am very proud of our country's leadership."
Britain had "decarbonised faster than any other major economy in the G7", he said.
- A 'billionaire prime minister' -
The premier said he agreed that "you can't just wish or will your way to net zero".
But he said "people have asserted these targets without having an honest conversation with the country about what's required to deliver them".
The government had an "ongoing responsibility" to put policies and proposals in place that would allow the UK to meet its international and domestic obligations, he argued.
The government remained "committed" to those targets, he said, adding that he had "absolute confidence and belief that we will hit them".
Just Stop Oil, which wants the UK government to end all new oil and gas exploration, called the prime minister a "liar".
Sunak was "making up policies to gaslight a nation into accepting a future of suffering", said the group.
"You say we can't afford to decarbonise but you're ignoring the reason why: we have a billionaire prime minister who refuses to tax billionaires," the campaign group said on X, formerly Twitter.
Sunak also drew criticism from Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the UK's lower chamber of parliament. Hoyle said the announcement should have been made in front of MPs, who are currently on recess ahead of the annual party conferences.
- 'Undeterred' -
In televised remarks during a visit to Essex, eastern England, Sunak said he would be "undeterred" by the resistance to his plans because people "want to see change and we won't have change unless we do things differently".
Opinions were mixed on the streets of London, with charity worker Ruth, 44, telling AFP: "It's really devastating and incredibly disappointing because there's no point in anything if the planet is dying."
But Iain MacGregor, a 60-year-old systems analyst, said that while "not ideal", the move was "the logical thing to do because we don't yet have the infrastructure to accommodate the charging (of electric vehicles) and the grid supply."
The policy shift comes as British voters are facing a cost-of-living crisis that has seen food and housing costs spiral with concerns multiplying over the potential financial cost of the government's net zero pledge.
With a general election expected next year, the Conservatives are trailing in the polls behind the main opposition Labour Party.
Charles proposes France-UK pact to combat climate 'emergency'
Paris (AFP) Sept 21, 2023 -
King Charles III on Thursday said France and the UK should team up on a new pact to battle the climate emergency, as he hailed the "indispensable" cross-Channel partnership in a rapturously received speech at the French Senate.
Charles won a standing ovation from lawmakers after deftly mixing English and French as well as personal and political reflections in his speech, the highlight on day two of his three-day state visit.
The visit, Charles' second abroad as monarch after a trip to Germany, has so far been seen in British and French media as a success, with occasional calls of "Vive le roi!" ("Long live the King!") even heard on the streets of Paris and a glittering Palace of Versailles dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.
In his speech, Charles recalled his mother Queen Elizabeth II, whom he succeeded upon her death one year ago, describing her legacy for France-UK relations as a "golden thread which will forever shine brightly" and saying the royal family was "moved beyond measure" by tributes to her from France.
"For the time that is granted to me as King, I pledge to do whatever I can to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France," he said.
"Quite simply, the United Kingdom will always be one of France's closest allies and best friends," he said, speaking from a lectern adorned with British, French and EU flags.
- 'Catastrophic destruction' -
Charles suggested that France and Britain join forces to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies with a new version of the Entente Cordiale, the 1904 pact that sealed the friendship between Paris and London.
"I would like to propose it also becomes an 'Entente pour la Durabilite' (Partnership for Sustainability) in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively," he said.
He also vowed that London and Paris were "steadfast in our determination Ukraine will triumph" in fighting the Russian invasion.
"Just as we stand together against military aggression, so must we strive together to protect the world from our most existential challenge of all -- that of global warming, climate change and the catastrophic destruction of nature," said the king, known for campaigning on environmental issues in the past decades.
By coincidence, Charles' latest call on the environment came a day after Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down green policies aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.
His speech will also be etched in history as the first British monarch to speak in the main chamber of the Senate: his mother spoke in a conference hall within the Senate in a 2004 speech.
"Applause we can only dream of in our chambers!" said Senate speaker Gerard Larcher after lawmakers rose to their feet in unison after the speech as lower-house speaker Yael Braun-Pivet laughed in agreement.
- Notre-Dame homage -
Charles then visited the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis -- home to the French national stadium used for the current Rugby World Cup and the Olympics next year -- meeting residents and visiting its majestic mediaeval basilica.
He met the president of the Qatari-owned football club Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser al-Khelaifi, who gave Charles a PSG jersey with "Charles" and the number three on the back.
Charles then rejoined Queen Camilla and French first lady Brigitte Macron -- who even briefly played ping-pong together while visiting a sports centre.
Later on the Ile de la Cite on the river Seine, Charles -- a keen gardener who once admitted he talked to his plants -- toured a flower market named after Queen Elizabeth II on her last state visit in 2014.
He and Camilla then greeted a crowd of well-wishers while walking to the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was partially destroyed by a devastating fire in 2019.
Joined again by the Macrons, they were shown the renovation and reconstruction work at the church, visiting in particular a gargoyle workshop.
And at a climate and biodiversity financing conference at the Natural History Museum, Macron hailed Charles' "clear vision you had and you have" on environmental issues.
The French president is known to have a strong personal rapport with Charles, with both men sharing a love of books.
Commentators in France excitedly noted how Macron repeatedly touched Charles' shoulder and his wife kissed Camilla, in a new protocol unthinkable under the more distant and austere Elizabeth II.
In one of his final engagements in Paris, Charles was due to meet luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH and one of the world's richest men.
Charles' visit wraps up Friday with a trip to the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
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