Opinion: “Special relationship” on climate change

Following the G7 summit this weekend, it seems that the ‘special arrangement’ between Donald Trump and Theresa May has now extended to include Trump’s disregard of Climate Change

After the UK’s laughable attempt at an Air Pollution Plan new information has come to light regarding the lack of interest that the government is currently showing for Climate Change and its effects on our environment.

The Paris Agreement was discussed in detail at the G7 summit this weekend and while the media has been focusing on Donald Trump’s disbelief of Climate Change, it appears that the UK government has been quietly siding with him, by attempting to add new amendments to the agreement.

The two new amendments drastically lower the effectiveness of the agreement. Firstly, when looking at renewable energy the original agreement states: “… a contribution to this target in terms of the member state’s share of energy from renewable source in gross final consumption of energy in 2030 with a linear trajectory for that contribution from 2021 onwards.” The UK’s suggested alteration to the agreement appears small at first, just wanting to remove the word “linear”, but it has huge ramifications. By removing the linear progression then member states wouldn’t be held accountable to any of the targets until 2030.

The second alteration is potentially even more concerning. Part of the agreement also includes increasing energy efficiency by 30% by 2030, yet the UK Government has suggested both decreasing the target to 27% and making it “indicative” rather than “binding”. In other words changing what was a legal requirement into a guideline.

Given that the UK’s air pollution levels are already higher than EU regulations, these two points highlight a lack of concern for environmental effects that could potentially harm not just one country but the entire planet. This on a week where it has been confirmed that Climate Change has now resulted in the inevitable death of the Great Barrier Reef.

It’s also interesting to note that even the Conservative’s recently released manifesto points to their preference to rely on fossil fuels rather than renewable energy. It states that they intend to “build on the unprecedented support already provided to the oil and gas sector.” Having already scraped the cabinet post for Climate Change all of these items build up to paint a compelling picture.

Further speculation from the EU is that there has been collusion between Theresa May and Donald Trump in regard to Climate Change policies and leaked information, which could potentially leave the entire Paris Agreement worthless. With the dust still settling on this leaked information there has not yet been a comment from the Conservative government, however, more information will soon follow.