UN chief scientist slams British government's cuts to renewable energy

Investment in the renewable energy sector is falling as the fossil fuel industry remains propped up by government, says the chief scientist of the UN environment programme

Cutting subsidies for wind power means 250 wind farms are unlikely to be built, energy secretary Amber Rudd said this summer (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

A prominent international expert on the environment has given a damning critique of the UK government's cuts to the renewable energy sector.

Jacqueline McGlade, former head of the European Environment Agency and chief scientist of the UN's environment programme, said Britain was going in the opposite direction to almost 150 other countries on the issue.

In an interview with the BBC, she said the fossil fuel industry was being supported whilst government measures were discouraging investment in the renewable energy sector.

"What I'm seeing worldwide is a move very much towards investment in renewable energy," she told the BBC. "What's disappointing is when we see countries such as the United Kingdom that have really been in the lead in terms of getting their renewable energy up and going - we see subsidies being withdrawn and fossil fuel industry being enhanced."

Ms McGlade was talking ahead of the Paris climate meeting on 30 November. In preparation, Francois Hollande has ordered the Eiffel Tower be lit up with climate change slogans. In Germany, meanwhile, an average 28% of the country's entire electricity comes from renewable such as wind, solar, biomass and hydropower - with a record broken in July when a staggering 78% of energy demands on one day were met by renewable energy sources, according to EcoWatch.

Yet the UK is going backwards, said Professor McGlade. The Office for National Statistics stated in February this year that 15% of the UK's electricity was from renewable resources - a promising start before the May election and subsequent decisions, The Independent reported at the time.

"It's a very serious signal - a very perverse signal that we do not want to create," she said.

The UK's Department of Energy and Climate said: "We are absolutely committed to getting a global deal in Paris, which will create a level playing field for businessess, driving innovation and growing the low-carbon economy."