'Our government’s policies.. are not only cooking the planet, they are justifying that by cooking the books'
Left Foot Forward
Hannah Davenport
Yesterday
Naturalist Chris Packham obliterated the UK Government’s climate policy achievements during a debate about the government’s record on tackling climate change.
It followed an interview with the Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho on Sunday where she defended the government’s approach to the environment and argued that Tories had a “very strong track record of delivery”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Coutinho also repeated the Conservative Party line that it is tacking a “sensible and pragmatic” approach to achieving net zero, as she argued she didn’t want to “heap costs on families”.
However environmental activist and broadcaster Chris Packham took apart the government’s rhetoric, accusing ministers of “cooking the books” over their climate policy achievements.
“Our government’s policies at the moment are not only cooking the planet, they are justifying that by cooking the books,” said Packham.
“She’s saying we’re ahead in all of our targets. That’s not actually the case, it’s the way that data is presented and analysed.
“In a simple case, if we are exporting oil or coal from a coal mine in Cumbria, what isn’t integrated into those figures is the fact that it will be burned in another part of the world.
“So the total carbon cost when it comes to our country’s achievement is not calculated. Nor do they calculate what is imported into our country either, so those figures are not justifiable in the way they’re being presented.”
During the show, the head of the Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, said the Prime Minister’s recent climate policy rollbacks had “set us back” on climate change, further undermining the government’s climate record.
When questioned by Kuenssberg on the cost of using green technology such as heat pumps and whether it was right that the government give people “room to breathe”, Packham highlighted the “grotesque” profits oil and gas companies continue to rake in.
Packham said: “They’re giving people at this point room to breathe, what about their children and their grandchildren? And if they can’t afford that, and of course there are many people who can’t afford that, what we need is a just transition.
“What wasn’t mentioned in any of these conversations is the grotesque profits being made by our energy companies at a time when there’s a very high level of volatility in that market which has driven the cost-of-living crisis.
“Had we not cut the green crap 13 years ago we would have been far ahead when it comes to renewables which are much cheaper than oil and gas and much more resilient when it comes to pricing.”
(Image credit: Political World / YouTube screenshot)
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