COP26: UK has failed to lead on energy
The UK Government has failed to lead COP26 talks on energy because it does not practice what it preaches, the Scottish Greens have said.
Today’s announcements on energy include a coal commitment that excludes the biggest polluters like the US, Australia, China and India and overseas finance plans that won’t cover projects already in the pipeline, like the UK’s planned investment in a gasfield in Mozambique.
Commenting, Scottish Greens climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “Today marks a colossal failure of leadership by the UK Government, just days after the Prime Minister flew from Glasgow to London on a private jet.
“Alok Sharma talks of consigning coal power to history but his government fired up fired up an old coal power plant last month to cover electricity demands. A global transition from coal into gas is a weak transition that will continue to put the planet in extreme danger.”
“Coal must be over, and we need the just transition to move away from oil and gas to begin now, ensuring no communities or workers are left behind. The UK Government’s plans to explore for new reserves and open new oil fields like Cambo flies in the face of their COP26 rhetoric. The real leadership is coming from those states like Denmark and New Zealand who are abandoning oil and gas exploration and building industrial strategies to accelerate the shift to renewables.”