Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Even after personally recovering from Covid-19, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government considers climate action such a priority, they are jointly hosting a high level climate summit with Germany to try to divert recovery money into renewable energy.

Coronavirus recovery plan ‘must tackle climate change’

By Roger HarrabinBBC environment analyst
25 April 2020

Environment ministers from 30 countries are meeting in a two-day online conference in a bid to make progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. 

The gathering is called the “Petersberg Climate Dialogue”.

It will focus on how to organise a “green” economic recovery after the acute phase of the pandemic is over.

The other aim is to forge international agreement on ambitious carbon cuts despite the postponement of the key conference COP26 – previously scheduled for Glasgow in November (now without a date). 

Alok Sharma, the UK Climate Secretary and president of COP26, said: “I am committed to increasing global climate ambition so that we deliver on the Paris Agreement (to stabilise temperature rise well below 2C). 

“The world must work together, as it has to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, to support a green and resilient recovery, which leaves no one behind. 

“At the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, we will come together to discuss how we can turn ambition into real action.”

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52418624

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is an annual meeting of government ministers, normally held in person, but this year’s event will be an online meeting on the 27-28th April. Ministers from 30 governments are expected to attend this year’s online event.

What can I say? Not only did the Boris Johnson government totally mess up the initial UK Coronavirus response by callously embracing enhanced death rates as the price of “herd immunity”, before pulling back in panic when the scale of the blunder became obvious, his government now plans to squander money raised to help people who suffered economic hardship on useless green energy investments, and even worse intends to encourage other governments to do the same.