A new analysis has shown that the Conservative party received £3.5m from individuals and entities linked to climate denial, fossil fuels and high-pollution industries last year.
The climate website DeSmog analysed Electoral Commission records, which show that the party and its MPs received funds from the aviation and construction industries, mining and oil interests, and individuals linked to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a thinktank which has denied the legitimacy of climate science.
The latest analysis comes just after the government announced what has been described as an underwhelming suite of energy policies, which rely on carbon capture and storage and which campaigners have said lack the ambition to properly phase out fossil fuels.
Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, was quoted as saying that the government’s so-called green day “couldn’t be any more of a misnomer when the Conservative party is raking in millions of pounds’ worth of dirty donations from fossil fuel interests and climate deniers”.
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According to reports, the Tories gained large sums from those with direct ties to fossil fuels, including more than £62,000 from Nova Venture Holdings, a firm wholly owned by Jacques Tohme, who describes himself as an “energy investor” on LinkedIn and lists his current role as co-founder and director of Tailwind Energy, an oil and gas company.
The party also received £10,000 from Alan Lusty, the CEO of Adi Group, a “leading supplier of engineering services to the petrochemical industry”, while Centrax, a firm that manufactures gas turbines, gave £35,000 to the party. It received £23,900 from Amjad Bseisu, CEO of the oil and gas firm EnQuest, who has argued that the North Sea could still yield further discoveries to extend its lifespan.
The largest donor to the Conservative party last year was the aviation entrepreneur Christopher Harborne, who gave £1.5m. The entrepreneur is CEO of a private jet company and also runs AML Global, an aviation fuel supplier operating in 1,200 locations across the globe with a distribution network that includes “main and regional oil companies”, according to its website.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
