Tim Farron: Climate change complacency faces shake-up thanks to Donald Trump

Complacency around climate change could be shaken-up thanks to Donald Trump's election to the White House, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told IBTimes UK on Wednesday (22 February).

"It's all about where the consensus is and there seems to be an unravelling of the consensus. If it challenges the complacency of those people who thought they were part of it, that might turn out in the end not to be a bad thing," he said.

"If it reminds us all that climate change is a reality...the danger I guess has been that the media in its desire for balance sometimes in my opinion gets it very wrong and gives equal credence to the credible and the incredible – the expert and the witless, frankly.

"Maybe Trump's approach and Trump's elevation actually might do something to shake-up that sense of lack of urgency. We are to be grateful for the separation of powers – presidents aren't nearly as powerful as they think they are."

Trump has called climate change a "Chinese hoax" and has promised to pull the US out of the 2016 Paris Agreement, an accord signed by 132 countries.

Farron, meanwhile, made the comments after committing his party to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C, rather than 2C, and calling for an "industrial revolution" in green technology.

The Liberal Democrat leader's plan included electrifying transport and getting rid of diesel, developing smart technology and advancing the so called "circular economy". But how would Farron pay for the ambitious proposals?

"Well, the only figure I've trotted out there in terms of what we are willing put forward is of course the £5bn ($6.2bn) into an infrastructure bank," he said.

"The costs over time, in terms of investment in new technologies, an awful lot of that comes from the private sector – the investment is not happening because there's no certainty.

"You look at what's happening in solar over the last 18 or so months, the loss of 12,500 doesn't even tell the real story, it's about the lack of ambition going forward."

Farron added: "What we are talking about is investment upfront to save people money and to change the notion that somehow it costs your money to go green."

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.