It has been revealed that the Glasgow climate conference last year cost taxpayers £250 million while increasing the number of air miles traveled by government employees.
The government spent a stunning sum on hosting the Cop26 conference, including for employees, lodging, and security, according to official estimates.
The two-week event cost £290 million in total, but sponsorship funds of £40.5 million, including $3 million each from Microsoft, National Grid, and NatWest, were obtained.
According to the Cabinet Office’s annual report, the UN conference was successful in bringing together 38,000 people and 120 international leaders to “address the serious problem of climate change.”
According to the report, Alok Sharma, the climate tsar, led “intensive discussions” in which 197 nations reached a “historic” agreement to limit fossil fuel use and take “unprecedented steps” to stop deforestation and phase out coal.
The research also discloses that the ecosystem was harmed during conference preparations and the G7 global leaders’ meeting in Cornwall earlier in 2021.
In 2021–22, the government’s total greenhouse gas emissions reached 6,442 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), up from 4,190 tons the year before the epidemic and up from 2,030 tons the year before when travel was restricted by lockdown.
The paper acknowledges that domestic aircraft emissions have grown by 18%. In order to assist the effective execution of the G7 summit and Cop26, there has been an increase in travel.
Last year, government employees and cabinet members traveled four million kilometers by air. According to the report, “the bulk of foreign travel supported the delivery of the G7 summit and Cop26 agenda.” Senior Tory MP Sir John Redwood stated: “I suggested that Cop26 be held online at the time. Lead by example if you wish to provide the rest of the world advice on using less carbon.
The expense of holding the Glasgow event, according to him, was “exceptional” for the government. He said, “It seems extraordinarily costly for a conference when one of its purposes was to rescue the world.” It seems to be rather wasteful.
When Mr. Sharma returned from Covid hotspots, he was given a special exemption from the hotel quarantine restrictions that were in effect at the time, according to information published in the Daily Mail last year. Mr. Sharma had traveled to more than 30 nations in preparation for the meeting.
Data released yesterday reveals that he kept traveling long after the Glasgow conference was over.
At a cost of £36,196 to the tax payers, Mr. Sharma traveled to Turkey, India, Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand in July this year, Vietnam in August, Bali, the Netherlands, and the US in September. According to a government official, Glasgow welcomed more than 40,000 people for the Cop26 climate change conference in November 2021, making it the biggest international gathering the UK has ever hosted.
The fact that Cop26 was an inclusive summit where representatives from governments, civic society, young people, and corporations could unite to take action to safeguard our planet was of utmost importance.
“The UK is thrilled to have hosted such an important event, which ended in over 200 nations creating the Glasgow Climate Pact… achieving global consensus to accelerate action on climate this decade,” the statement said.
»Official data show Cop26 cost taxpayers £250m and harmed the environment«