Boris Johnson’s father Stanley lands new eco role that could see him pushing the Prime Minister on green taxes
- Stanley Johnson will attend the Glasgow UN COP26 climate change conference
- PM’s father said he will ‘constructively’ call for policies including carbon taxes
- New role is as international ambassador of Conservative Environment Network
Boris Johnson’s father Stanley has landed a new environmental job which could see him putting pressure on the Prime Minister to bring in green taxes.
In his role, Mr Johnson Snr will attend the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow in November.
He said he will ‘constructively’ call for policies including carbon taxes, which raise the price of goods producing more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
His new role is as international ambassador of the Conservative Environment Network, a group of 100 MPs and peers.
Boris Johnson’s father Stanley (pictured) has landed a new environmental job which could see him putting pressure on the Prime Minister to bring in green taxes
It comes after his son’s fiancée Carrie Symonds gained a job helping to protect wild animals with the Aspinall Foundation.
Mr Johnson Snr joked that when it came to the environment: ‘You could say it’s a case of “Keep it in the family”.’
He said the PM has a ‘key role’ in taking a ‘firm grip’ on governments to ensure they meet the goal of curbing global warming to 2C and commit to having net zero emissions by 2050.
But he said that green taxes may prove easier to achieve in the UK now that the Covid-19 means the Chancellor of the Exchequer is ‘pushed in the right direction of carbon taxes’.
Mr Johnson told the Daily Mail he would be keeping the pressure up on the government and other countries, particularly the EU to ensure that the world meets the tough goal of curbing global warming to 2c and ideally no more than 1.5c, and for the world to commit to producing no more greenhouse gas – overall – by 2050.
Mr Johnson Snr said the PM (pictured) has a ‘key role’ in taking a ‘firm grip’ on governments to ensure they meet the goal of curbing global warming to 2C and commit to having net zero emissions by 2050
He said: ‘At the moment we are shooting beyond the 3 degrees, so that’s why it’s utterly crucial in Glasgow to take a firm grip on what governments are proposing, and that is where the Chairman of the COP26 (climate conference) Alok Sharma and our Prime Minister have a key role.
‘They are going to say, “Frankly folks, we’ve got to do more than tweak the programmes we’ve got to bring the world firmly back on target to net zero.’
He added: ‘As host of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the UK should be trying to get the nations of the world on a path to net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. I hope we can also secure an agreement on the use of carbon pricing as one of the main tools to cut emissions.’
Welcoming Stanley’s appointment, Sam Hall, Director of CEN, a network of 100 MPs and peers commented: ‘We are thrilled to have Stanley on our team in such a big year for the international environment and for the UK’s global leadership.
‘He will be a very effective champion of our conservative environmentalist agenda, and help us to amplify our message in the UK and across the world.’