Prominent scientists and lawyers have said the UK government’s decision to ignore the Paris climate agreement when deciding on major infrastructure projects undermines its presidency of UN climate talks this year. The court of appeal agreed in February 2020 that the government should have taken the Paris goals into account, but the supreme court reversed that ruling last December. Not only does that undermine the UK’s status as a champion of the Paris agreement just ahead of Cop26. It also substantially reduces humanity’s prospects of maintaining that limit and hence averting disaster.”The letter urges the government and the supreme court to rethink. The rather casual way in which the supreme court said the Paris agreement was not a determining factor is very concerning.

Source: The Guardian March 30, 2021 08:37 UTC