The UK conservative minister for climate change, Amber Rudd, had been planning to fly out to Lima in Peru to attend the ongoing summit on climate change in the company of Liberal Democrat secretary of state, Ed Davey; but that travel plan has been sidetracked following the moves of the chief whip, Michael Gove.
Ms. Rudd has cancelled her travel plans to be in Lima for the flagship UN talks on climate change, and will be remaining in the UK to be part of the proposed Commons vote on counter-terrorism measures that will be coming up in no time. She was barred by Michael Gove on the grounds that she would be more needed at the Commons vote than perhaps at the Lima talks.
But several Lib Dem officials are not taking this lying down, and they cited the fact that barring Ms Rudd from attending the climate talks in Peru is a betrayal of green causes promised by the Tories – most especially in the face of David Cameron’s pledge to be “the greenest government ever.”
Ms Rudd in a statement says that “This Government is committed to working towards reaching a global deal on tackling serious climate change. In September, along with the Prime Minister, I personally attended the UN Climate Summit in New York and regularly engage with NGOs, businesses and my ministerial counterparts to discuss this important issue. The UK secretary of state for energy and climate change, Ed Davey, will represent the British Government at the Lima climate change conference.”
Her position is in deference to her earlier claim to tackle global warming. But as can be expected, the Tories led by environment secretary Owen Paterson countered the Coalition’s green campaign and even asked that the Climate Change Act be repealed – the UK’s own policy to cut down on carbon emission.
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