Environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena failed to declare a speech he gave at a secret meeting with think tanks funded by climate denial groups, openDemocracy can reveal.
In November 2020, when he was an international trade minister, Jayawardena met with representatives from the Heritage Foundation, Mercatus and Americans for Tax Reform, which a 2021 study found to have collectively received more than $300m from US funders of climate denial.
The minister, who was appointed by Liz Truss last month, has faced a barrage of criticism from climate groups this week after it was reported that he will ban new solar farms from being built on most farmland. Jayawardena also backed a campaign that led to a solar farm development being withdrawn from his North East Hampshire constituency.
