UK not abiding by climate commitments: Ex-UN chief
Former secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has accused Britain of failure to abide by its commitments under a landmark international climate deal signed during his term at the world body.
Ban said on Sunday in an article for the Guardian newspaper that the British government was still heavily supporting fossil fuel projects overseas by providing billions of pounds in finances.
“These figures and policies are hard to reconcile with the UK’s commitments under the Paris agreement,” said the former UN chief, making a reference to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
Experts believe that the UK government is imitating US president Donald Trump by circumventing bans on fossil fuel projects. Trump withdrew from the Paris deal months after taking office in 2017, calling it a ploy to benefit developing countries like China and India.
The UK government has already drawn uproar by allowing fracking projects northeast of England where environment activists have even been jailed over protests to the projects.
Ban, a former South Korean diplomat, said UK Export Finance (UKEF), a main government-related credit agency, had openly supported businesses involved in oil and gas schemes around the world over the past few years.
He said the investment was at odds with the UK government’s official statements about the climate change and its impacts on economic growth in the world.
“The time has come for the UK to change course, in the interests of the whole world,” he said, adding that British government authorities were supposed to prove they are “serious about phasing out the use of fossil fuels worldwide, and not only on its own territory.”
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