'Embarrassed' Energy Minister Claire Perry Heckled by Anti-Fracking Campaigners at UN Climate Talks Event

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Energy minister Claire Perry apologised to international observers after being repeatedly interrupted by four climate protesters during an event in which she announced the UK had formally requested to host the climate talks inย 2020.

Speaking during a side event at this yearโ€™s climate summit in Katowice, Perry was forced to stop speaking after activists openly challenged her over the UKโ€™s frackingย policy.

The event was organised by the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a coalition of countries, regions, cities and businesses committed to phase-out coal in their energy mix, launched by the UK and Canada last year.

โ€œWhat do you say to those people that you have silenced,โ€ asked Extinction Rebellion activist Liam Geary Baulch, referring to strong anti-fracking opposition in Lancashire, where fracking activities were suspended earlier this week following the largest tremor being recorded since the process started.

Minutes later, another protester interrupted Perry, demanding a โ€œgenuine just transition toย renewablesโ€.

โ€œThere is a view that with our current technology we canโ€™t run an energy system that is 100 percent renewable. We just canโ€™t,โ€ Perryย responded.

โ€œYou should be really proud as a UK citizen when you look at what our country has done over the last 20 years. No other country decarbonised faster per units of GDP than the UK.โ€

โ€œIf the world moved away from coal and used gas, emissions would drop very substantially and that is the process to phase-out coal,โ€ sheย added.

Four young people from the UK ย who disrupted the event told DeSmog UK they had planned to engage with Perry during a Q&A session at the end of the event but decided to interrupt the minister when the panel announced there would not be any time forย questions.

โ€œThe event today was greenwash theatreโ€ said Naomi Kreitman, adding the UK government recently cut subsidies for solar and blocked the development of the onshore wind sector โ€œwhile pumping more money into fossil fuelย infrastructureโ€.

โ€œGas is just another fossil fuel and it needs to stay in the ground. The scientific consensus is clear, there is no space for more fossil fuel infrastructure in a 1.5 degree world,โ€ sheย said.

Speaking to reporters following the event, Perry admitted that she had been โ€œembarrassedโ€ about the interruptions. โ€œA couple of interruption and hecklings are fine, I am used to that,โ€ she said. โ€œBut I felt others were a little surprised in theย room.โ€

Perry said she โ€œabsolutely admired the passionโ€ of the young people involved. โ€œAll of us understand that this has become a fundamental question and not just among young people. You always want people to go further and faster but I was trying to make the point that we have a really good track record in the UK,โ€ sheย added.

Perry said she had invited the four campaigners for aย meeting.

Decarbonising theย economy

The protestersโ€™ interventions heavily disrupted the UKโ€™s government presentation of its vision for a low-emissions society and the path to a justย transition.

A short video praising the UKโ€™s โ€œtransition blueprintโ€ from coal to the development of an offshore wind sector was shown to a packed room of country officials, delegates andย journalists.

Perry also praised the Drax Group, which runs the UKโ€™s largest single coal power station in North Yorkshire, for the companyโ€™s innovations with biomass and carbon capture andย storage.

โ€œWe will be off coal completely by 2025. If the market doesn’t deliver, I will legislate to do so,โ€ Perry pledged, adding that โ€œsometimes you have to legislate as well as rely on marketย signalsโ€.

The event was also the occasion for the UK to announce ยฃ175 million of funding to develop new technologies which will help clean carbon-intensive industries such as steel, ceramics, cement, chemicals, paper andย glass.

โ€œIโ€™m launching a mission to create the worldโ€™s first โ€˜net-zeroโ€™ carbon cluster by 2040,โ€ Perryย said.

There were more announcements as Perry official confirmed the UKโ€™s โ€œstrong interestโ€ to host the COP26 climate talks inย 2020.

โ€œWe donโ€™t want to poach something other countries donโ€™t want to give up. We want this to be an entirely consensual process,โ€ sheย added.

In a statement, WWF said it welcomed the UKโ€™s bid to host the climate conference, adding โ€œitโ€™s an opportunity for the UK to lead the way on climate change at a time when the need for action has never beenย starkerโ€.

Despite Theresa Mayโ€™s vulnerable position at home, Perry reaffirmed the UK governmentโ€™s commitment to tackling climate change. โ€œDespite the 24-hour political indulgence in the UK, Iโ€™m here,โ€ she said. โ€œWe are completely convinced across government that clean growth is part of a our post-Brexit place in theย world.โ€

Alliance withoutย compliance

UK campaigners were not the only ones to disrupt the Powering Past Coalย Alliance.

Aaron Pedrosa, a campaigner from the political coalition Sanlakas in the Philippines, stood up during the event and warned that although the alliance was โ€œa breadth of fresh airโ€, it had to โ€œgo beyond rhetoric and pursue binding commitments to phase outย coalโ€.

Pedrosaโ€™s comments came hours after the Irish Times revealed that the subsidiary of the Irish state-owned energy company ESB signed a 10-year-contract to provide engineering and project-management services for a new 1,200 megawatts coal-fired power plant in theย Philippines.

Ireland signed up to the Powering Past Coal Alliance earlier this year, pledging to phase outย coal.

Pedrosa said: โ€œThis company will be profiting from emissions being made in the Philippines. Can the alliance make binding commitments and compel its members to say noย more?โ€

Pedrosa called on the alliance to raise the issue with its constituency and โ€œkeep its members in towโ€, calling on the Irish Government to cancel the contract with MGen, a Phillipines coalย company.

Colin Oโ€™Hehir, from the Irish Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, told DeSmog UK that the department would investigate the matter and later make a formalย response.

Image credit: Chloeย Farandย 

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