He doesn’t get it: Tory savages Boris Johnson on climate change

A former Tory ­energy minister claims the British Prime Minister had admitted he didn’t really ‘get’ climate change.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Sir David Attenborough in London. Picture: AFP.

Boris Johnson’s announcement of a defining year of action on ­climate change has been overshadowed by a former Tory ­energy minister’s claim that the British Prime Minister had admitted he didn’t really “get” the issue.

Claire O’Neill, who was sacked by Mr Johnson seven months after he appointed her to lead the UN climate summit in November, said there had been a “huge lack of leadership”.

She spoke out shortly before Mr Johnson joined David ­Atten­borough at the Science ­Museum in London for the launch of Britain’s plans for COP26 summit in Glasgow.

Mr Johnson made two ­announcements, promising to bring forward to 2035 the date Britain would “end the sale” of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, and by one year to October 2024 the date when it would stop burning coal to generate power.

Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.1 per cent between 2017 and 2018, according to figures published on Tuesday. Emissions have fallen 43 per cent since 1990, partly because of the switch from coal to gas and wind. Mr Johnson said Britain had a responsibility to lead the world in tackling climate change because of its “historic emissions” from being the first country to industrialise its economy.

He refused to answer questions about how Britain would achieve its overall target of ­becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 and who would replace Ms O’Neill as COP president.

She told the BBC: “The Prime Minister has made incredibly warm statements about this over the years. He has also admitted to me that he doesn’t really understand it.”

She later clarified: “He doesn’t really get it, I think is what he said.

“My advice to anybody to whom Boris is making promises — whether it is voters, world ­leaders, ministers, employees or ­indeed to family members — is to get it in writing, get a lawyer to look at it and make sure the money is in the bank.”

In a letter to him she wrote: “You promised to ‘lead from the front’ and asked me what was needed: ‘Money, people, just tell us!’ Sadly these promises are not close to being met.”

Downing Street sources and green groups have suggested that she was dismissed because she performed poorly in the role and lacked the skills to lead a big diplomatic initiative.

The COP president acts as a ­facilitator, trying to settle differences between countries and coax them into making stronger commitments on emissions. The president also chairs talks at the summit and decides when to bring down the gavel on the final agreement. Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and tipped to replace Ms O’Neill, ­defended Mr Johnson, saying: “I’ve seen his dedication to leaving the earth in a better state to the one we found it in.”

Mr Johnson said: “It’s only by repairing the damage to the natural world and restoring the balance between humanity and nature, that is now so grotesquely out of kilter, we can address the problem of climate change.”

The Times