Tony Blair is under fire from environmentalists after new research exposed a staggering hypocrisy at the heart of Labour's global warming policy.
Blair had claimed to be in the vanguard of efforts to tackle climate change - but the new research reveals that his administration has funded the construction of coal plants in the developing world that cancel out half the emissions reductions the Prime Minister has boasted the UK will make under the Kyoto Protocol.
The coal-fired power plants have been built by British companies in developing countries across the southern hemisphere. But the projects were underwritten by Whitehall's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD). The Government has now admitted that an annual 13.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions from these plants are 'directly attributable' to Labour's stewardship of the ECGD since 1997. And yet Tony Blair has made vocal commitments to reduce the UK's emissions by 26.5 million tonnes of carbon and develop what he called a 'low carbon economy'.
The figures were acquired by Greenpeace through parliamentary questions to the Department of Trade and Industry, which controls the activities of the ECGD. Greenpeace Executive Director Stephen Tindale said: "Without the financial support of Tony Blair's government these dirty power stations would never have been built. He talks a good game on global warming, but his support for Kyoto will be worthless if Labour keeps funding fossil fuel power stations in poor countries. This irresponsible policy will come back to haunt us - not least the millions of Britons at risk from flooding."
Meanwhile the ECGD has not funded a single renewable energy project, despite the Government's assertion that 2002 would be the 'year of renewables.'
The research is contained in a new Greenpeace report released today - Exporting Pollution: Double Standards in UK Energy Exports. The report details examples of how the ECGD operates. In one case highlighted in the report, local communities in the Prachuab Khiri Khan region of Thailand are waging a battle to defeat the proposed construction of a coal powered plant in an area of outstanding beauty. The local groups want renewable energy solutions, but a British company has already approached the ECGD in the hope of securing support for construction of a coal-burning plant.
Stephen Tindale added: "Tony Blair will be attending the Johannesburg Earth Summit next month. If he wants to help the developing world and genuinely fight global warming, he should call for clean renewable energy to be brought to the two billion people on this planet without access to electricity. People in poorer countries are set to lose most from global warming"
Notes to editors:
In answer to a parliamentary question, on June 10th Particia Hewitt wrote:
"Scaling the carbon emissions by the proportion of finance guaranteed by ECGD would give a figure of less than 14 million tonnes per year of carbon that is directly attributable to ECGD's participation."
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
