Starmer urged to ‘stay strong and not waver’ on climate action to counter Trump

Dozens of greenish groups are urging Sir Keir Starmer to “stay beardown and not waver” connected clime enactment pursuing Donald Trump’s triumph successful the US statesmanlike election.

More than 50 climate, improvement and anti-poverty organisations wrote to the Prime Minister up of satellite leaders gathering astatine the UN clime league successful Azerbaijan connected Monday.

While it is inactive President Joe Biden’s medication heading to Cop29, the US predetermination results earlier this week are apt to bent dense implicit the negotiations.

Mr Trump, who has described clime alteration arsenic a “hoax”, pledged to propulsion America retired of the 2015 planetary Paris Agreement, which aims to bounds unsafe planetary warming.

Donald Trump’s re-election is simply a acquisition to the large polluters seeking to derail clime enactment astatine Cop29, but the satellite cannot spend further delays

Areeba Hamid, Greenpeace UK

Domestically, helium is expected to rotation backmost parts of the Inflation Reduction Act – the signature clime authorities of Mr Biden’s presidency, and has signalled his enactment for much fossil substance extraction.

Greenpeace UK, Oxfam GB, Friends of the Earth and Christian Aid are among those to motion the letter, saying the US president-elect “threatens to fatally undermine planetary clime enactment astatine a important moment”.

“Our satellite cannot spend for Trump’s predetermination to derail planetary clime action,” they wrote.

“While helium volition not re-enter the White House until January, his pro-oil, anti-climate stance could instantly power the Cop29 negotiations adjacent week.

“Fossil substance lobbyists, thousands of whom attended the talks past year, are apt to beryllium emboldened successful their efforts to sabotage change.

“Political leaders indispensable amusement spot and imaginativeness to guarantee that enactment to chopped emissions and boost nationalist concern for processing countries is importantly scaled up without delay.”

It besides comes arsenic respective G7 leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, arsenic good arsenic the EU president Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed they volition not beryllium attending Cop29.

The missive points to deadly upwind events implicit the past year, including hurricanes, storms and floods that person killed hundreds, displaced millions and caused hundreds of billions of pounds of harm astir the satellite successful caller weeks.

“Here successful the UK, exceptionally bedewed upwind has led to the second-worst harvest since records began, with devastating implications for British farming communities and the country’s aboriginal nutrient security,” they wrote.

Dubbed the “finance Cop”, a cardinal taxable astatine this year’s league is its absorption connected scaling up clime concern to conscionable the rapidly escalating outgo of clime change.

The greenish groups warned that portion fossil substance giants proceed “to rake successful eye-watering profits”, galore climate-vulnerable countries look mounting nationalist indebtedness crises, underscoring the request to vastly physique up caller and further grants-based finance.

In the letter, they outlined a bid of demands to Sir Keir, starting with restoring the UK’s estimation connected the satellite signifier arsenic a person connected cutting emissions by enacting his manifesto pledge to extremity caller lipid and gas, and encouraging different states to bash the same.

There’s ne'er been a much captious clip for the UK to instrumentality up the mantle of planetary clime leadership

Rosie Downes, Friends of the Earth

The campaigners said Sir Keir should enactment to rebuild spot with Global South countries by backing grant-based nationalist concern and indebtedness alleviation for those facing clime damages, and champion bold caller taxes connected the high-emitting industries to rise funds for climate-impacted communities astatine location and abroad.

Areeba Hamid, co-executive manager astatine Greenpeace UK, said: “Donald Trump’s re-election is simply a acquisition to the large polluters seeking to derail clime enactment astatine Cop29, but the satellite cannot spend further delays.

“From the devastation successful Valencia to the typhoon-battered towns of the Philippines, the disasters of caller weeks are a stark informing of the costs of failure.

“People astir the satellite are crying retired for clime enactment and arsenic the US steps back, others indispensable measurement up.”

Rosie Downes, caput of campaigns astatine Friends of the Earth, said: “There’s ne'er been a much captious clip for the UK to instrumentality up the mantle of planetary clime enactment and rebuilding our greenish estimation by daring to blaze the way for ambitious clime action.

“Extreme upwind is escalating the satellite over, including present successful the UK. The authorities indispensable usage the UN clime talks to amusement it’s backmost successful concern connected climate, and to galvanise the planetary assemblage astatine this astir urgent clip for radical and our planet.”

PA has contacted the Energy Department (DESNZ) for comment.