Latest news with #RachelKyte
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Labour climate envoy 'living like a travel writer' after racking up 75,000 air miles in just nine months
Labour's climate envoy has been accused of living like a 'travel writer' after it emerged she has effectively circled the globe three times in her new role. Rachel Kyte has clocked up more than 75,000 air miles since her appointment in September – costing taxpayers almost £40,000. The majority of her flights were in business class, according to details released to The Telegraph via a Freedom of Information request. Ms Kyte, an academic and fan of environmental group Extinction Rebellion, was recruited by Ed Miliband in September as the UK's new 'special representative for climate'. She has previously admitted her carbon footprint was 'a source of deep discomfort', but she visited a foreign country every month between October and May. Her personal carbon footprint for the flights alone could be as high as 15 metric tonnes of CO2. The average carbon footprint per person in the UK is around 12.7 metric tonnes of CO2, for a whole year. Ms Kyte racked up the miles – costing a total of £38,769 – on trips to Dar es Salaam, Cape Town, Washington DC and Riyadh, among other far-flung destinations. According to the Government's website, her objectives are to 'build the UK's profile as a progressive climate leader' and 'drive for results in the clean energy transition and green and inclusive growth'. She told the New Statesman in 2021, while working at a university in Massachusetts: 'Having worked internationally for years, and with family on the other side of the Atlantic and friends spread across the world, the carbon footprint wrapped up in my social and professional identity is a source of deep discomfort.' The Foreign Office said all Ms Kyte's travel complied with internal travel policies, and her 'international diplomacy has supported efforts to unlock more private finance to tackle the climate crisis and taken forward our mission to be a clean energy superpower'. Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, said: 'The climate envoy is more like a travel writer travelling around the world to exotic locations.' Earlier this year, the Mail revealed that Ms Kyte was among a string of Extinction Rebellion cheerleaders recruited by Mr Miliband to government roles. She is one of a trio of advisers who have expressed public admiration for the radical direct action group that has repeatedly brought chaos to Britain's streets. Ms Kyte previously sported an Extinction Rebellion badge at an international climate summit and praised an eco-activist who glued herself to the pavement outside Shell's headquarters in London. The Mail also revealed this year that civil servants at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spent more than £700,000 of taxpayer cash on luxury air travel last year, with staff flying business and premium economy 237 times in 12 months.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour climate envoy racks up 76,000 air miles in eight months
Labour's climate envoy has billed the taxpayer for flying the equivalent of three times the circumference of the Earth, The Telegraph can reveal. Rachel Kyte travelled by aeroplane on more than a dozen trips since becoming the Government's top diplomat for net zero in September, despite admitting her carbon footprint was 'a source of deep discomfort'. The majority of Ms Kyte's flights were business class and have cost taxpayers a total of £38,769, according to a Freedom of Information request made by this newspaper. When the distances of every leg of Ms Kyte's travel – all of which was on official business – are added up it equates to a little under 76,000 miles, according to website Air Miles Calculator, roughly three times the length of the equator. The busy travel itinerary, which saw the 60-year-old visit a foreign country every month between October and May, means her personal carbon footprint for the air travel could be as much as 15 metric tonnes of CO2, a carbon-tracking formula used by online database Earth911 suggests. Ms Kyte has previously spoken of air travel's negative impact on the environment and said that partly as a result she has felt personally conflicted about flying at times. In an interview with The New Statesman in 2021, Ms Kyte said: 'Having worked internationally for years, and with family on the other side of the Atlantic and friends spread across the world, the carbon footprint wrapped up in my social and professional identity is a source of deep discomfort.' In an interview with the Cleaning up Podcast in 2020, Ms Kyte said of her career: 'For a long time, I had been on a plane every Sunday night and on a plane many days during the week and I have to say I had angst about that kind of flying from a climate perspective.' She added that frequent flying also made it difficult to balance family life with work. There is no suggestion the academic, who is also a professor at Oxford University, has done anything wrong. Labour unveiled Ms Kyte as Britain's new special representative for climate in September. The post was previously vacant for more than a year after being axed by Rishi Sunak in 2023. The Government's website says Ms Kyte's objectives are to 'deepen and progress international climate partnerships' and 'drive for results in the clean energy transition and green and inclusive growth'. Ms Kyte racked up expenses for 16 journeys since October, flying business class on 12 occasions and economy class on 11. Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, said: 'The climate envoy is more like a travel writer travelling around the world to exotic locations.' It comes after David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, was embroiled in a hypocrisy row after his air travel bill rose to £1.2m between October and December last year. In January, Ms Kyte travelled on a return business class flight from London to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to 'unlock private sector investment in renewable energy' through her attendance at the Africa Energy Summit, at a cost of £6,040 to taxpayers. A one-way business class flight that took Ms Kyte from Boston in the US to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to attend the COP16 conference in December cost £5,436. Another one-way business class flight took Ms Kyte from Washington DC to London in April, costing £5,129. A further journey saw Ms Kyte fly business class from London to Hanoi, Vietnam, last month, returning via Jakarta, Indonesia, on tickets that cost £4,559. On the trip she visited Singapore using economy class flights, which together cost £578. In Singapore she spoke at climate events including Ecosperity Week and the GenZero Climate Summit and met with government representatives to 'deepen collaboration on areas such as energy connectivity and carbon markets'. Other destinations on Ms Kyte's itinerary since becoming climate envoy include Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Baku in Azerbaijan, New Dheli and Rome. A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'The Special Representative for Climate was appointed specifically to support ministers in driving action on this government's strategic priorities on international climate action and energy policy. Her international diplomacy has supported efforts to unlock more private finance to tackle the climate crisis and taken forward our mission to be a clean energy superpower. All travel has complied with internal travel policies. 'All FCDO travel is undertaken using the most efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Travel plans are decided with consideration of the best use of time and in the interests of the taxpayer.'
Forbes
5 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
America's Secret Sauce Is At Risk, UK Climate Envoy Told SXSW London
King Charles III at SXSW London - from Royal Family website SXSW London last week drew a panoply of high-level speakers, from His Majesty, King Charles III, to Idris Elba, Orlando Bloom and Bryce Dallas Howard, to business leaders from across the U.K. and the global economy. This was the first SXSW outside the annual Austin, Texas event. A few other government leaders spoke too, including Rachel Kyte, UK Climate Envoy, who spoke at SXSW London's Nature & Climate House, which was hosted by Bellwethers Group. As usual, Rachel Kyte did not mince words, while also showing her diplomatic skills. Rachel Kyte (l), UK Climate Envoy & David Gelles of The New York Times, at Nature & Climate House, ... More SXSW London SXSW London Street sign She added that, 'the reason why people maybe vote for a populous party or for a party, fringe either the left or the right, they vote because they feel insecure economically, they feel socially insecure, and they're just not sure that the direction of travel is going to go up and not down. And we have to get into that faith.' Map of funding distributed by Inflation Reduction Act etc. - Gelles pointed out that the Biden administration's investments in clean energy boosted the U.S.'s ability to compete with China in building a clean energy-climate resilient economy. But the Trump administration is trying to gut it all, and knee-capping the scientific community and the climate movement in the U.S., including 'firing scientists, upending regulations,' and defunding and closing scientific research centers. What does Kyte think of the Trump administration's actions? 'The second thing I think, is that the loss of the climate team at NASA is fundamentally disruptive to the global enterprise of understanding what climate change is and how it's affecting the planet,' Kyte stressed, adding that, because its work was 'fundamental to the work of the (U.N.) International Panel on Climate Change,' that 'the destruction of NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Weather Service) has a huge impact, not just on the United States.' Demonstrators attend rally outside National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration headquarters to ... More oppose the recent worker firings, in Sliver Spring, Md., on Monday, March 3, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Kyte added that these cuts are 'scary' for anyone in the U.S., especially as hurricane season begins. Kyte lived in the U.S. for 15 years, including when she served as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All. 'Americans are less secure,' Kyte warned. As a result of the Trump administration's actions, 'There are going to be less well paid jobs in the renewable energy sector for sure, and, these (actions) are undermining or hollowing out the potential for green growth.' 'The future is cleaner energy,' she added, 'and it is remarkable that that would not be the secret sauce of the future of a strong America.'
CNBC
06-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
AI growth drains global energy supply, but is also part of climate solution: Expert
Rachel Kyte, Special Representative for Climate for the United Kingdom, shares her views on artificial intelligence, collaborating with key Asian allies, and the rise of green investments.
Sky News
18-03-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Climate action will make British people 'more secure', says UK envoy, after Badenoch claimed it would hit living standards
Climate action will make British people's lives more secure, the UK climate envoy has said. Rachel Kyte's comments come after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the country's key climate target would "bankrupt" the country and drive a drop in living standards. She told an audience this morning: "This government has a clear commitment to climate leadership at home and abroad. "Why? Because this is going to make British people more secure." She was appointed as the UK's special representative for climate last year by the current Labour government after it reinstated the role that the Tories had axed under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ms Kyte said at a conference hosted by Chatham House thinktank today that climate action would boost Britons' security by protecting them from extreme weather like flooding, which has saturated farms and homes, and by encouraging other countries to do more to slow global warming. to be "impossible". Ms Badenoch said the target "can't be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us". 10:13 The Conservative leader did not publish analysis to support these claims, but they are at odds with findings from the UK's climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee (the CCC). Last month the CCC said reaching net zero would cost on average 0.2% of UK GDP a year until 2050, requiring upfront investment before saving money. That's because clean electric technologies like heat pumps and EVs, which will eventually replace gas boilers and petrol and diesel cars, run on electricity which will be cheaper than gas or petrol and diesel. Ms Badneoch's comments come in the wake of US President Donald Trump attacking US climate laws - rolling back nature protections and wrenching it out of the landmark Paris Agreement. His actions as head of the world's largest economy and second-biggest polluter have raised fears others may be emboldened to follow suit and ditch their own attempts to go green. But Ms Kyte, who as a diplomat does not comment on specific countries or parties, said conversations she has with other countries are about how they green their economies, not if. "There are no conversations about 'well, maybe we should take a pause in the energy transition'," she said. "It's a question of 'how do we learn from what's working? How do we push it forward?'." She was speaking on a panel alongside Ana Toni, chief executive of the COP30 climate conference in Brazil this year, who said the transition from fossil fuels to clean technology is "underway. It's inevitable".
