Emmanuel Macron, French president, will on Tuesday host dozens of world leaders along with companies and campaign groups at a summit in Paris aimed at bolstering the fight against climate change. Two years after rallying the world behind the Paris accord to limit greenhouse gas emissions, France is again seeking to take the lead on climate talks as the US steps back from UN-orchestrated efforts to prevent dangerous global warming.
FT 12th Dec 2017 read more »
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have united in a call to end investment in fossil fuels. On the eve of an international summit on climate finance, the two leaders join a long list of MPs calling for divestment from oil, coal and gas companies. A cross-party group of more than 100 MPs and former MPs are demanding the £612 million Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund stop investing in fossil fuels. The pledge calls for the “phasing out of fossil fuel investments over an appropriate time-scale”. The announcement of Blackford and Corbyn’s decision comes as fifty heads of state, including UK Prime Minister Theresa May, arrive in Paris for an international summit on climate change and climate finance, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The National 12th Dec 2017 read more »
Theresa May has declared that tackling climate change and reducing its effects on poorer countries is a “moral imperative”, as the Conservative party renewed its push to portray itself as environmentally friendly. The prime minister set out her commitment to dealing with climate change in an article for the Guardian, echoing David Cameron’s 2005 efforts to show the Tories cared about global warming. Ahead of this week’s climate change summit in Paris, May said: “There is a clear moral imperative for developed economies like the UK to help those around the world who stand to lose most from the consequences of manmade climate change.” She described coal as “one of the dirtiest and most destructive ways of generating power” and hailed the “enormous commercial opportunity which the shift to cleaner forms of energy represents”. May’s commitment to the issue of climate change was questioned when she abolished the Department for Energy and Climate Change shortly after taking office last year. Later, her appointee as environment secretary, Andrea Leadsom, had to ask officials whether climate change was real. However, the prime minister insists “tackling climate change and mitigating its effects for the world’s poorest are amongst the most critical challenges the world faces”. At the summit she will announce a £140m boost to funding for poorer communities affected by climate change through deforestation or vulnerability to natural disasters and extreme weather, plus £15m of additional support for reconstruction on Dominica in the Caribbean, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September.
Guardian 12th Sept 2017 read more »
Theresa May: Tackling climate change and mitigating its effects for the world’s poorest are among the most critical challenges the world faces. That is why I will join other world leaders gathering in Paris today for the One Planet Summit. There is a clear moral imperative for developed economies such as the UK to help those around the world who stand to lose most from the consequences of manmade climate change. But by putting the UK at the forefront of efforts to cut carbon emissions and develop clean energy, we can also make the most of new economic opportunities. And by taking action to create a secure natural environment, we are fulfilling a duty we owe to the next generation.
Guardian 12th May 2017 read more »
