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James Hansen, the former NASA scientist who has been dubbed the “godfather of climate change”, wrote to the British Prime Minister asking him to end all support for fossil fuels and “earn a special place in history” to fight the climate crisis.
He wrote: ‘By leading the UK, as host to the Cop, you have a chance to change the course of our climate trajectory – or you can stick to business almost as usual and be vilified in the streets of Glasgow, London. And in the world. “
Highlighting the recent decision to license the UK’s first new deep coal mine for three decades, Hansen continued: “This latest disgrace and humiliation would be easy to achieve. Just keep going with the plan to open a new coal mine in Cumbria and keep investing UK public funds in overseas fossil fuel projects, with contemptuous disregard for the future of young people and nature.
Hansen is one of the most respected figures in global climate science. As an expert at NASA, he testified before the United States Congress in 1988 – including then-senators Joe Biden and John Kerry – about the dangers of climate change. This historic warning helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Hansen’s letter to Johnson is copied to Kerry, now a special climate envoy to Biden, who has made climate action a top priority for his presidency, and who will hold a world climate summit on April 22 as that precursor of the Cop26, scheduled for November.
Tim Crosland, director of climate litigation charity Plan B, said: “Since the US election, a new dynamic is at play. Boris Johnson can no longer get away with his climate hypocrisy, speaking of leadership climate change while opening a new coal mine and enabling continued financial support for fossil fuel interests in the UK and around the world. If he does, it is clear that there will be no going back for him with the new US administration. We have to be confident that he has the political pragmatism to follow through on Dr Hansen’s warning.
Hansen fears that the continuation of the Cumbrian mine may be borne by fossil fuel supporters around the world, as the UK prepares to host the Cop26 summit in Glasgow in November.
“This shows that they [the government] are really not serious, ”Hansen told The Guardian in an interview. “We don’t need new mines. It shows that leaders will say the right words, but in fact, fossil fuels always win. “
Young people in particular would feel betrayed, he warned. “That’s why I’m trying to encourage Johnson to think about this – he’s going to get really hammered. But he could be heroic, if he just wanted to lead the way on a path that would work.
Companies that profit from fossil fuels must be confronted, according to Hansen. “The great obstacle that you must overcome – where others have failed – is that posed by the special financial interests which have corrupted our governments and devastated our planet,” he wrote in the letter sent to Johnson on Wednesday and seen by the Guardian.
He said developing countries would see the UK’s actions in opening a new coal mine as an incentive to continue using coal. “Developed countries have to work with emerging economies to help them – otherwise, they will use coal,” he said.
The Climate Change Committee, the government’s statutory adviser to meeting the UK’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050, also warned ministers about the Cumbrian mine. In a letter released last Friday, committee chairman Lord Deben urged Planning Secretary Robert Jenrick to consider impacts, such as the mine – whose permission was granted until 2049, the year before the government does not have to reach net zero. emissions – would increase global greenhouse gas emissions.
Deben wrote: “It is also important to note that this decision gives a negative impression of the UK’s climate priorities in this year of Cop26.”
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told MPs who questioned Cumbria’s decision that the mine should be licensed because it would provide coking coal, which was needed for industrial processes, such as steelmaking, rather than coal for power generation.
Hansen rejected this argument. “We have to replace the old ways of doing things – there are alternatives,” he said. “It is possible and we have to do it, because science tells us that we cannot go on as usual.”
Johnson pledged late last year to halt UK government investment in fossil fuels overseas. However, activists are concerned about the flaws in these plans.
A No 10 spokesperson said: ‘The UK continues to lead the fight against climate change, cutting emissions more than any major economy so far – at the fastest pace – and putting implement the Prime Minister’s bold 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution by 2030. in action.
“We have already made a commitment to end the use of coal for electricity by 2025 and to end direct government support for the fossil fuel sector abroad.
“As we go further and faster to rebuild greener construction this year, we will continue to urge countries to drive clean economic recovery as well, as hosts of the Cop26 and chairman of the G7. The Ambition Climate Summit co-organized in the United Kingdom enabled 75 leaders to make new commitments in favor of climate action. “
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