Theresa May has been accused of being Donald Trump’s “mole” in Europe after leaked documents showed the UK attempted to water down EU policies designed to tackle climate change.
While other European politicians have made clear to the Republican billionaire that his denial of climate science is a problem, the Prime Minister has remained resolutely silent on the issue.
Her visit to Washington – when the two leaders were pictured holding hands – was widely regarded as an attempt to build a strong relationship with Mr Trump, despite concerns about his attitudes towards women, migrants, Islam, Vladimir Putin’s Russia and other issues.
The leaked documents, obtained by Greenpeace’s Energydesk, show the UK tried to make a policy designed to improve energy efficiency – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making goods cheaper to run for consumers – voluntary rather than mandatory.
It also essentially argued EU member states should be allowed to make no progress at all towards a 2030 target on renewable energy until the last moment.
Barry Gardiner, the shadow International Trade Secretary, who speaks on climate change issues as a result of Ms May’s decision to scrap the dedicated climate change Cabinet post, told The Independent: “After the G7 [meeting], the word was put out that six countries were on track, pursuing the objective of the Paris Agreement. Only one country, America, was out of step.
“That simply has been proven not to be the case by this leak, which shows Donald Trump actually has a mole within the EU and that mole is the UK.
“The UK is, behind the scenes, trying to water down the commitments and make them voluntary instead of mandatory.”
He said the changes proposed by the UK were not “cosmetic” – to make targets “aspirational”, rather than legally enforceable, was “ridiculous”.
“It’s a substantial change,” Mr Gardiner said. “To say all this is just non-binding… is to completely move away from that fact that Paris has set in place clear ultimate objectives and we have to be on a trajectory to meet that.
“The whole basis on which we in the UK have set in place our trajectory to meet our targets is on a legally binding basis.
“That’s why we have given the Committee on Climate Change that independent status to make these recommendations which are then set in law through the whole process of setting carbon budgets.”
He pointed to the Government’s failure to produce an effective plan to reduce carbon emissions in line with a “carbon budget” announced in 2011.
“I think the UK loves the rhetoric of being a world leader on climate change but we are living off the reputation that was built up in 2008 when we [Labour] put through the Climate Change Act,” Mr Gardiner said.
“The way in which the Government has really failed to do anything following the third Carbon Budget is really of huge concern. We have now waited since July 2011 to have an implementation plan.”
ClientEarth, a group of environmental lawyers who have twice successfully won court orders forcing the Government to improve illegally poor plans to tackle air quality, has raised the prospect of further legal action over the Government’s failure to produce an effective Emissions Reduction Plan.
In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour
39 show all In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour
1/39 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images
2/39 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images
3/39 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA
4/39 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA
5/39 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters
6/39 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters
7/39 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters
8/39 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters
9/39 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters
10/39 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images
11/39 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP
12/39 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images
13/39 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images
14/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP
15/39 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP
16/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters
17/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP
18/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA
19/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP
20/39 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters
21/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images
22/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images
23/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images
24/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters
25/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images
26/39 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters
27/39 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters
28/39 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA
29/39 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA
30/39 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP
31/39 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA
32/39 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP
33/39 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images
34/39 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters
35/39 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA
36/39 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP
37/39 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP
38/39 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters
39/39 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP
In one of the leaked documents, the UK proposed watering down an EU plan to improve energy efficiency by 30 per cent by 2030, reducing the target figure to 27 per cent and making it “indicative” rather than “binding”.
Another submission showed the UK also wanted to remove a requirement for a “linear” trajectory towards a 2030 target for renewable energy after 2021.
This would mean that states would be able to spend years without doing anything then suddenly catch up just before 2030.
The document says: “Technologies, particularly newer and less established technologies, do not roll out at a linear pace.
“We do not consider that linear progress to the target should be expected or determined at the EU and, rather, that it should be for member states to determine based on their plans.”
Requiring a linear trajectory towards the 2030 target would not have prevented states from doing more than was required.
Donald Trump claims his first foreign trip has been a success. His body language tells otherwise
Jonathan Gaventa, director of environmental think-tank E3G, told Energydesk that the UK’s actions were difficult to understand given the policies would not apply until after the expected date for Brexit.
“This smells of obstructionism,” he said. “The UK is p*****g off countries it needs as allies.”
Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, added that the documents were “a strong indication that, unless we fight back, Britain could become an offshore pollution haven where the environment is in the firing line of an aggressive Government with a blind and brutal deregulation agenda”.
The Conservative Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WufflyTime on May 29th, 2017 at 14:01 UTC »
That's nothing to do with being Donald Trump's lackey. It's just Tory Party modus operandi.
A New Scientist article, 29 June 2016 suggested Brexit could be good for the environment, because the UK would no longer be there to water down EU environmental laws.
AcidJiles on May 29th, 2017 at 13:24 UTC »
Don't worry she is not a mole for Trump, she is just sufficiently enough of an asshole to appear as such at times
FarawayFairways on May 29th, 2017 at 11:22 UTC »
The UK has often been America's seat in the EU, but I wouldn't go so far as to describe Theresa May as Donald Trump's mole in this case. It's much more likely that she simply agrees with him. The Conservatives have had a long standing antipathy towards environmental policy and I wouldn't look too much further than that for your explanation. She's in the pocket of the industry and the Tories have always sided with the big six over the consumer