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The Guardian: UK environment secretary took donation from funder of climate sceptic thinktank
UK environment secretary took donation from funder of climate sceptic thinktankExclusive: Steve Barclay accepted £3,000 donation from Michael Hintze, a key funder of Global Warming Policy Foundation
Helena Horton Environment reporter
Fri 17 Nov 2023 09.00 EST
Last modified on Fri 17 Nov 2023 14.01 EST
The new environment secretary, Steve Barclay, received a donation from a major funder of a climate sceptic thinktank just weeks before taking up his role, the Guardian can reveal.
Barclay accepted £3,000 from Michael Hintze on 20 October, and is being asked by campaigners to reveal whether he has been lobbied on climate issues by those who seek to deny the extent of climate breakdown.
Lord Hintze has been one of the key funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a UK-based thinktank that has denied the legitimacy of climate science, and he was one of its earliest backers.
The thinktank focuses on questioning policy on the climate crisis, and was set up by the former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, who has said that climate change is not a threat, but “happening very gently at a fraction of a degree per decade, which is something we can perfectly well live with”. The thinktank has produced reviews – at odds with mainstream science – that claim the climate emergency is not happening, or downplay the extent of it.
…
Helena Horton Environment reporter
Fri 17 Nov 2023 09.00 EST
Last modified on Fri 17 Nov 2023 14.01 EST
The new environment secretary, Steve Barclay, received a donation from a major funder of a climate sceptic thinktank just weeks before taking up his role, the Guardian can reveal.
Barclay accepted £3,000 from Michael Hintze on 20 October, and is being asked by campaigners to reveal whether he has been lobbied on climate issues by those who seek to deny the extent of climate breakdown.
Lord Hintze has been one of the key funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a UK-based thinktank that has denied the legitimacy of climate science, and he was one of its earliest backers.
The thinktank focuses on questioning policy on the climate crisis, and was set up by the former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, who has said that climate change is not a threat, but “happening very gently at a fraction of a degree per decade, which is something we can perfectly well live with”. The thinktank has produced reviews – at odds with mainstream science – that claim the climate emergency is not happening, or downplay the extent of it.
…
