Leader of the Liberal Democrats and former Climate and Energy Secretary Ed Davey used a visit to the COP26 summit in Glasgow to call for tougher international action against China in the fight against climate change.
He called on Western countries to unite in getting China to agree to phase out the use of fossil fuels or face a carbon border tax, warning that a “carrot and stick approach” is needed to get the world’s largest polluter round the negotiating table.
Ed Davey has negotiated more COPs than any other British politician, leading negotiations in Doha, Lima and Warsaw.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and former Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “This is Boris Johnson’s moment to bring the West together and put China under maximum pressure to phase out the use of fossil fuels.
“We must use a carrot and stick approach to China. That means taking real measures to make it more difficult for China to sell carbon intensive products to the West, using a carbon border levy.
“In my experience of climate negotiations China is the key, and we must unite to move China into the right place.”