Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said “all the proper processes” were followed when appointing the UK’s climate envoy, as he accused the Conservatives of making “baseless” allegations.
Rachel Kyte was recently appointed the UK’s special representative for climate, a role which aims to further the country’s green goals internationally, including at Cop summits.
In the Commons on Tuesday, shadow energy minister Joy Morrissey questioned whether Ms Kyte’s links to Quadrature Capital, a company which has donated £4 million to the Labour Party, had been declared to officials.
Ms Kyte sits on the advisory board of the Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF), which was set up by Quadrature Capital, according to its website.
During Energy Security and Net Zero questions, Ms Morrissey said: “May I congratulate the Secretary of State on his appointment of Rachel Kyte for his climate envoy to support his work with international partners.
“And before her appointment, did the Secretary of State declare to officials her links with Quadrature Capital that … donated £4 million to the Labour Party?
“And also, did the Secretary of State declare her links to the Green Initiative Foundation that gave him £99,000? A yes or no answer will suffice.”
Mr Miliband replied: “All the proper processes were followed by the Foreign Office, who were in charge of the employment, and I have to say this is a very, very sad reflection on the Conservative Party.
“Rachel Kyte is an esteemed person, who is recognised for her leadership, and all they can do is fling around baseless allegations.”
Mr Miliband’s register of interests states he received services in kind valued at £99,000 from the Green Finance Institute (GFI) to provide “policy support on the Labour Party’s national wealth fund”.
A spokesman for the GFI said: “The Green Finance Institute is an independent non-partisan organisation. It has not made any monetary donation to the Labour Party or to any political party.
“It provided services in kind to the Labour Party (Rachel Reeves) by leading the Secretariat for and chairing the National Wealth Fund Taskforce. Under parliamentary rules, the time that we allocated to the Secretariat had to be reported as a donation, but this was a technical financial recognition of our staff costs throughout the duration of the project. It was not a monetary donation.”
The climate envoy role was previously axed by Rishi Sunak’s government in 2023, after Nick Bridge stood down, leaving the UK as one of the only major economic powers at Cop28 in November without a specialist envoy.
Ms Kyte has previously worked as a professor at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, a special representative of the UN Secretary-General, and the chief executive of Sustainable Energy for All.
Following her appointment, she said: “This provides an opportunity to use international action to help deliver on the UK’s energy mission. And it provides challenges, not least in mobilising the financing to protect people and drive greener growth.
“There is no time like now for the UK to help drive action and I am excited to play my part in this new role.”
