David Cameron has rejected an offer from Boris Johnson to lead this year's climate summit after the Tory in charge was dramatically sacked.
The former Prime Minister was asked to step in after Claire Perry O'Neill was dumped as President of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Ahead of the November summit in Glasgow, Ms O'Neill claimed Boris Johnson secretly admitted he "doesn't get" climate change
Now it seems David Cameron was unwilling to take her place. But he insisted it wasn't a snub.
Mr Cameron - - said it was "an honour to be asked" but it would be better for a Government minister to do the job.
"It was an honour to be asked to do that job and I'm very grateful to have been asked," he told the BBC.
"But I think it's best in these situations if you have a Government minister doing the job; you then have one line of command rather than, perhaps, two people doing the same thing."
Mr Cameron rebranded the Tory party in the late 2000s to show off green credentials but later described environmental measures as 'green c**p'.
Today he said he also had "a lot of things I have already agreed to do this year, not least the work I do for Alzheimer's Research UK, so I thought it was important that I carried on with that work".
"But I wish the Government well, I wish this climate change conference well, because it's absolutely vital.
"I'm sure that there will be a Government minister, or someone, who will be able to do the job and do it very well. The Government has my backing as they go forward."
Asked about his relationship with Boris Johnson, though, Mr Cameron declined to answer.
According to The Times, former Tory leader William Hague was also sounded out for the presidency.
The disclosure comes after Mr Johnson refused to answer questions about who would take on the job during the event's launch on Tuesday.
The UN climate talks, to be held in Glasgow in November, are the most important since the Paris Agreement to curb global warming was secured in 2015.
Countries are expected to deliver more ambitious domestic plans for cutting greenhouse gases by 2030, as current proposals are not enough to prevent dangerous temperature rises.
