Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
A Conservative peer repeatedly spoke out on net zero policies and “climate change action” without declaring shareholdings in the energy giants BP and Shell, or the mining company BHP. Baroness Noakes, a member of the House of Lords since 2000, suggested excluding climate change from the UK’s Procurement Bill, arguing the topic “may well become less important over time”. In a debate that included energy policy she said it was “time to get real and take net zero off its pedestal”. She is not the only peer to fail to declare relevant shareholdings in this way. Lord Bellingham contributed to a debate highlighting the role of oil and gas in the energy transition without declaring that he was a director of an oil and gas investing company, ADM Energy. Lord Marlesford intervened in a debate on the Environment Bill criticising legally-binding environmental targets. He declared his interests as “a Suffolk farmer” but didn’t declare a shareholding in BP. None of these peers responded to requests for comment by Tortoise. A House of Lords spokesperson said that the Lords’ code of conduct requires “members to register relevant financial interests in the published Register and to declare them in debates in the House”.
Further reading: explore the Peer Review
