Brexit will not disrupt “unstoppable” global action on climate change, the United Nations climate chief has said.
Concerns have been raised about the uncertainty for business and investors prompted by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
Environmentalists have also raised fears that the UK – seen as a leader on climate action – will backtrack on measures to cut emissions as some Leave campaigners are also climate sceptics.
But asked if Brexit was a “rock in the road” for driving investment into the shift to a low carbon economy, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said that was not the case.
“Climate change action is by now unstoppable and it is global, it is operating at a higher level and with the understanding of longer periods.
“Of course there will have to be a readjustment, a recalibration between the UK and the EU, if Article 50 is triggered.
“But I don’t see this is going to dramatically change certainly what is happening in the world, or even what is happening in the region,” she said.
Ms Figueres, who would not confirm reports that she will run for the position of UN secretary general after she ends her job as the most senior figure in the UN’s climate body in July, was speaking at a summit on business and climate.
Business leaders and politicians are meeting in London to discuss how to implement the first comprehensive climate agreement, secured at UN talks in Paris in December, on tackling global warming.
The two-day Business and Climate Summit will look at how companies can continue with leadership that has already seen firms take steps such as pledging to source 100% clean energy and transforming their supply chains.
Asked whether a post-Brexit UK could change course on climate change, Paul Simpson, chief executive of the CDP which works with businesses on disclosing environmental information, said there was still cross-party consensus and legislation on taking action.
“However the new government unfolds, with the regulation and the cross-party consensus, we expect the UK will remain a leader on climate change,” he said.
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