Take the education centre he and his wife founded in Guyana four years ago for local students to learn about the country\u2019s last remaining rainforest and how to conserve it.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
But delivering on his pledge would test even the greenest of foreign secretaries.<\/p>\n
Mr Lammy announced three new initiatives: A clean power alliance that would allow poorer countries to \u201cleapfrog\u201d polluting fossil fuel energy in favour of renewables with the help of richer ones; an overhaul of international finance to help poorer countries reduce their carbon footprints and adapt to the climate impacts they didn\u2019t create; and international leadership on protecting biodiversity.<\/p>\n
All of these would be delivered by exploiting the UK\u2019s diplomatic \u201cheft,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Essential goals if we\u2019re to enjoy a habitable planet \u2013 but all very similar to pledges we\u2019ve heard before.<\/p>\n
The main challenge is how to divert flows of finance from fossil fuel projects or unsustainable agriculture that drives deforestation to cleaner, more sustainable ones.<\/p>\n
And while investment globally is shifting rapidly into renewable energy \u2013 which is often less expensive to build \u2013 carbon emissions are at all-time highs (though possibly peaking).<\/p>\n
The reality is that fossil fuels and conventional agriculture are where the biggest profits are still to be made.<\/p>\n
You only need to follow the money, as a recent report by NGO Action Aid did, to see that.<\/p>\n
It concluded since the Paris Agreement in 2016, $3.2trn (\u00a32.4trn) of investment \u2013 much of it from banks in the UK \u2013 has flowed into fossil fuel projects and $370bn (\u00a3281bn) into industrial agriculture.<\/p>\n
I asked Mr Lammy how he could compete with that, given the UK had just \u00a311.6bn to spend on climate finance in developing countries between 2019 and 2026.<\/p>\n
The reply suggested that even that amount of money was no longer guaranteed.<\/p>\n
Mr Lammy said: \u201cMeeting the \u00a311.6bn remains our ambition.\u201d But, as we\u2019ve heard repeated by ministers throughout Westminster in recent weeks, he added that \u201cdifficult choices\u201d lie ahead for Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her autumn spending review.<\/p>\n
However, if, in the absence of much money to play with, Mr Lammy can exploit the UK diplomatic machine to attract partner governments in a climate alliance, it might not be a futile exercise.<\/p>\n
There is much governments can do to remove subsidies, favourable tax regimes and other incentives, to make environmentally harmful investments more difficult \u2013 and to encourage the kind needed to stabilise the climate and protect biodiversity.<\/p>\n
But that requires genuine partnerships that typically are built not just with trust, but cash on the table.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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