LONDON - Fossil fuel subsidies from the British and German governments have undermined the spirit of the Paris climate deal aimed at reducing emissions worldwide and limiting global average temperatures, the UN climate change envoy said Monday.
Mary Robinson, former Irish president and UN special envoy on climate change and El Nino, said she had to speak out after Germany's compensation for coal power and British tax breaks for oil and gas.
"The British government introduced new tax breaks for oil and gas in 2015 that will cost the UK taxpayer billions between 2015 and 2020, and at the same time they have cut support for renewables and for energy efficiency," Robinson told The Guardian newspaper.
"It's regrettable. That's not in the spirit (of Paris)," she said. "In many ways, the UK was a real leader (on climate change) and hopefully the UK will become again a real leader. But it's not at the moment."