Greta Thunberg is right to call out governments for failing to deliver on their climate commitments (‘Hypocrites and greenwash’: Greta Thunberg blasts leaders over climate crisis, 9 November). A league table ranking G20 OECD countries on their effectiveness at phasing out fossil fuels, published this week by ODI, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and Oil Change International, placed the UK last.
While the UK talks tough, its agencies have continued to plough public funds into fossil fuels. Despite the mantras of tackling the climate crisis and building back better, £30.9bn of its Covid-19 recovery funds has been committed to fossil fuel industries. The UK denies that it provides any fossil fuel subsidies based on its own narrow definition, showing a serious lack of transparency.
No G20 country is performing as it should – G20 countries together spent $584bn a year on fossil fuels between 2017 and 2019, and this trend is continuing. With the UN climate summit taking place in Glasgow next year, the UK must urgently move its green recovery and climate leadership from rhetoric to reality.
Angela Picciariello
ODI, London
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