A Tory MP who tried to call Greta Thunberg out took a hammering on social media this weekend.
The climate activist had accused the UK of using “creative carbon accounting” to present a misleading picture of our climate credentials last week.
It follows an announcement by the PM that the UK has “managed to reduce its CO2 emissions by about 42 per cent on 1990 levels” at the Leaders’ Climate Summit in April.
Thunberg challenged the claim, branding it “a lie” and disputing the veracity of labelling the UK a “climate leader”.
She accused the UK of cherry-picking its data to appear to have reduced CO2 emissions more than it actually has, saying: “Of course, if you don’t include all emissions, the statistics are going to look much nicer.”
The figure would not “look that good”, she claimed, if a number of excluded aspects had been factored in, listing “aviation, shipping, outsourcing, the imports of consumption… and the burning of biomass”.
John Redwood stepped in to rebuke her claims, tweeting: “Greta Thunberg should withdraw her false accusations about the UK. She should concentrate on China which produces 27 times the amount of CO2 the UK does.”
But he was duly corrected by the Twitterati.
Here’s what people had to say:
1.
The UK outsources emissions by relying on China for production. Its easy to claim we’re doing our bit by getting somebody else to do our dirty work and blaming them for the consequences.
— Thomas James (@runnytom) August 21, 2021
2.
“Nurse get me my Fisher Price Chatter Telephone I am going to give Greta Thunberg a piece of my mind. Ring ring!
— James Smith (@pramkzone) August 21, 2021
Done. She is going to stop trying to stop climate change now, well done John!
Rusk please.”
3.
The fact that China is bad does not make the UK good.
— Stephen Evans ? (@stivevans) August 21, 2021
4.
I really don’t understand how people get so worked up about a young person who wants us all to live on a cleaner planet. We all need to work together on this issue. There is no room for finger pointing and whataboutery.
— Joe Bergin. ????? (@berginjoe5) August 21, 2021
5.
UK’s a very small contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, yes. But in the end, even small differences will count. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Also setting a good example is important.
— Anna-Louise Langton (@Dune9) August 21, 2021
Keep going @GretaThunberg
6.
The UK consumes a lot of products made in China. Surely we’ve just exported our emissions to them?
— Lawrence Garfield (@Losing_Streak42) August 21, 2021
7.
“Nurse get me my Fisher Price Chatter Telephone I am going to give Greta Thunberg a piece of my mind. Ring ring!
— James Smith (@pramkzone) August 21, 2021
Done. She is going to stop trying to stop climate change now, well done John!
Rusk please.”
8.
… but we consume their goods made by creating CO 2.
— britneyment (Daisy) (@britneyment4) August 21, 2021