.
#
Monckton: “Marc Morano and I have just won two of the easiest-ever victories in the global warming debate, without a shot being fired. A sociologist from Cardiff University, realizing he would lose a debate against us at the ‘Green Davos’ climate-change forum in London next Tuesday, has capitulated. cried off and retreated. And a British “minister of climate change”, who was due to address the forum, also caved and slunk out of the arena on learning that Marc and I were also to speak. Merely by our presence, Marc and I have routed the traffic-light tendency – the Greens too yellow to admit they’re really Reds. … But the champagne-guzzlers patting each other on the back at the climate-change forum at the swank Dorchester Hotel will not notice – until Marc and I speak, that is (if we’re not disinvited). Expect fireworks!”
#
Long tweet thread with responses:
*Announcement*
In light of their decision to invite two notorious climate deniers to speak at their conference, I have decided I must withdraw from participating in the CC Forum "Investment in Sustainable Development" event in London next week https://t.co/KlIyAIZu7q
đ§ľ1/8 pic.twitter.com/mc23YBFyxx
— Dr. Aaron Thierry (@ThierryAaron) October 14, 2022
Graham Stuart MP was listed as a keynote speaker on Tuesday at the four-day Global Investment in Sustainable Development conference in London, hosted by the CC Forum, a company which touts itself as the âgreen Davosâ.
His speech would have been followed by a debate about global warming featuring Lord Christopher Monckton, who has a history of promoting climate science denial, and Marc Morano, a prominent U.S. climate science denial activist.
However, when contacted by DeSmog, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said Stuart would no longer be attending the event, and that he was not told who else would be on the bill when he agreed to speak.
The reason for his cancelling was not immediately clear. While BEIS referred to other speakers, conference organisers said Stuartâs team had cited âunforeseen urgent government businessâ for his decision to withdraw. Stuart did not respond when contacted for comment.
Prime Minister Liz Truss is facing criticism over her support for new fossil fuel projects, including fracking, and plans to block solar farms and scrap environmental protections.
Stuart defended the governmentâs support for almost 100 new licences for oil and gas drilling this week, telling a panel of MPs that domestic production is âgood for the environmentâ because it creates fewer emissions than importing oil and gas.
âThis government, which still holds the COP Presidency, continues to share the stage with individuals and organisations that are undermining national and global attempts to tackle the climate crisis, despite UK citizens being shown to be committed to more urgent actionâ, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer told DeSmog.
âWeâve had the Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg opening up the North Sea to further exploration by fossil fuel corporations and now the Minister supposedly appointed to counter Rees-Moggâs climate scepticism speaking at a conference that is welcoming climate sceptics.
âWe need a government that understands the actions needed to reach net zero.â
Climate Science Deniers
The ministerâs speech at the CC Forum event was to be followed by a âVIP Networking Lunchâ, and then a debate titled âIs Global Warming the Worldâs Most Pressing Problem?â, according to the online programme.
The debate will feature Marc Morano, an American activist who Greenpeace once dubbed a âcentral cell of the climate denial machineâ, and Lord Christopher Monckton, a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, who in 2010 led Tea Party crowds in the U.S. in a call and response chant of âGlobal warming is?â, with the crowd shouting âBullshit!â.
Morano runs the climate science denial website Climate Depot and the think tank CFACT, which has received funding from Exxon Mobil and Chevron.
Marc Morano is a prominent U.S. climate science denial activist. Credit: YouTubeHe is one of the worldâs most aggressive climate science deniers, known for attacking individual scientists along with the scientific consensus on climate change. Morano has said that climate scientists deserve to be âpublicly floggedâ and for years he made a habit of publishing the email addresses of climate scientists.
Before joining CFACT in 2009, Morano worked for conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and was a staffer for Senator James Inhofe, who told Congress that âmanmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.â
Monckton is also due to give a keynote address on Tuesday â the day the climate minister had been scheduled to speak â titled âDo We Need to Mitigate Climate Change and Can We Actually Afford It?â.
BEIS Back-and-Forth
After DeSmog raised Morano and Moncktonâs involvement with BEIS, Stuartâs speech â the topic of which was listed as âTBDâ, or to be determined â was removed from the online programme on Thursday night, though it is still available in an archived version and in screenshots.
BEIS had initially declined to say whether Stuart was ever booked to speak at the event, telling DeSmog simply that âthe minister is not attending this eventâ.
But the organiser, CC Forum CEO and founder Max Studennikoff, told DeSmog that Stuartâs office had confirmed by email as recently as Wednesday that the minister would speak at the event.
When DeSmog made further inquiries, BEIS then appeared to link Stuartâs decision to withdraw to his not knowing who else was booked for the event when he agreed to speak â an apparent reference to Morano and Monckton.
Yet on Thursday night, after DeSmogâs inquiries, Studennikoff says he received an email from Stuartâs office which said: âI regret to inform you that due to unforeseen urgent government business the minister will no longer be able to take part in this event next week. Please accept our apologies.â
DeSmog asked BEIS for clarification, but had not heard back by the time of publication.
Peers Appearing
One Conservative peer, Lord Nat Wei of Shoreditch, an entrepreneur who advised the David Cameron government, has confirmed that he will attend the conference, and defended the debate with Morano and Monckton on free speech grounds.
âMy understanding is that this [the event with Morano] is a debate being organised between those who are sceptics and those who believe climate change is realâ, he told DeSmog. âIâm personally on the latter side though I am not in the debate.â
He added: âYou canât have a debate if you donât invite people with different opinions to discuss their differences. Itâs part of being in a free society.â
Lord Wei is scheduled to speak on a panel called âAre Fossil Fuels Regaining Their Grounds? The Short-Term and the Long-Term Implications of the Energy Crisisâ and give a keynote speech about âThe Importance of Financing Innovation for Solving Climate Changeâ.
Another peer, Lord Marland of Odstock, who was a climate change minister under Cameron, is billed to give a keynote speech on Tuesday titled âEnergy Security through Sustainable Investmentâ. He did not respond when contacted for comment.
The conference will close with a âNetworking Luncheonâ at the House of Lords on Thursday.
âBrainstormingâ
Dr Aaron Thierry, a graduate student at the Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, publicly withdrew from the CC Forum over the involvement of Morano and Monckton, who he said are âinfamous for spreading climate disinformationâ
âGiven the immense stakes and need for immediate climate action, I cannot in good conscience lend legitimacy to an event that would profile grifters who knowingly shill for fossil fuel polluters, even as millions have their lives and livelihoods destroyed by climate impacts,â he said on Twitter.
CC Forumâs Studennikoff, who will moderate the debate with Morano and Monckton, defended the conference, which he said was being held to âreaffirm the role of the UK as a leader in green energy transitionâ.
In a written statement, he told DeSmog: âTo enable a transparent dialogue, we welcome speakers with various opinions, sometimes polar opposite.
âAs part of our brainstorming sessions, we intend to give [the] stage to two speakers who have been known as climate sceptics with the view of (sic) publicly debunking their arguments in a public debate on stage, as we firmly believe that any attempt to shut down such a debate would constitute an affront to free speech.â
Studennikoff added that CC Forum is âpurely [an] investment forumâ and has been âentirely apoliticalâ, because he believes âin the power of private wealth more than in policy makingâ.
Truss Trouble
Trussâs first speech as prime minister at the Conservative Party conference last week was interrupted by two Greenpeace campaigners who held a banner that read âWho voted for this?â and were forcibly ejected from the hall.
Truss reportedly asked King Charles not to attend COP27, the UN climate summit in Egypt in November. Her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, held secret meetings with Saudi Aramco earlier this year, the Guardian revealed this week.
Trussâs leadership contest was partly funded by Lord Nigel Vinson, who has funded the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), the UKâs main climate science denial group, which campaigns as Net Zero Watch.
She also received donations from climate science denier Lance Forman and donors from pro-fracking groups.
Now we wait to see if Monckton and I will be “uninvited” due to this controversy.Long tweet thread with responses:Â https://twitter.com/ThierryAaron/status/ 1580825174881886208 Tweets collected at this link:*Announcement*
In light of their decision to invite two notorious climate deniers to speak at their conference, I have decided I must withdraw from participating in the CC Forum “Investment in Sustainable Development” event in London next week london.cc-forum.com
LOL at @ThierryAaron who can't take Critical Thinkers or Listening to their position.
— I would be a much better Prez than the Big Guy (@azwthrnerdgal) October 14, 2022
This is embarassingly childish. Science is based on exploration of evidence. If you're so confident that your argument is supported by facts, why wouldn't you take advantage of a public forum to debate someone who holds an opposing view?
— bugman opposer (@BugmanOpposer) October 14, 2022
Must stay in bubble⌠must stay in bubbleâŚ
— 10thMan (@10thMan2021) October 14, 2022
It should be easy to destroy âdeniersâ if the science is so settled. Yet you run away, which tells me everything
— Mike (@brynybrath) October 14, 2022
It should be easy to destroy âdeniersâ if the science is so settled. Yet you run away, which tells me everything
— Mike (@brynybrath) October 14, 2022
Because he is a coward with a weak argument…
— The Angry Cracker (@CaptBuck) October 14, 2022
In Focus w/ Addison Smith – One America TV – Broadcast October 14, 2022 Climate Depot Founder Marc Morano talks about climate activists vandalizing paintings and his upcoming climate debate in London.
.Â