Mayor's Rio climate change trip defended

Mayor Brabin's trip to Rio de Janero is being supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and no public money has been spent on her attendance at the event

West Yorkshire's elected mayor has defended a trip to Brazil to speak with other city leaders about climate change.

Labour's Tracy Brabin is in Rio with about 100 other mayors from around the globe for the C40 summit to push for "bolder action on climate" ahead of the COP30 gathering of world leaders to discuss climate change.

Ms Brabin's post on social media about her visit attracted negative comments, with one accusing the mayor of spending "thousands jetting to conferences in expensive holiday resorts".

A spokesperson from West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) told the BBC that the trip was "supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and no public money has been spent on her attendance".

The COP30 conference, which is taking place in the Brazilian city Belém between 10 and 21 November, takes place 10 years after the Paris climate agreement.

That deal saw countries pledge to try and restrict a rise in global temperatures to 1.5C.

Speaking ahead of the trip, the mayor said the county was proving that net zero did not have to mean extra costs for families but could boost employment and growth.

"I'm joining London Mayor Sadiq Khan in Rio this week to show that with devolution, we no longer have to sit around and wait for national leaders to rescue us from the cost of living and the climate crisis - we can take bold action ourselves to deliver real change," she added.

However some social media users criticised the trip.

One West Yorkshire Facebook user, responding to an image of the mayor promoting wild swimming on a Brazilian beach, questioned if she would be "planting a tree to replace your waste of money, carbon footprint."

Another described her visit as "6000 miles for a photo opportunity".

WYCA said the county's 'green economy' was worth £8.1bn and supported more than 53,000 jobs.

The spokesperson said decarbonisation projects for small and medium-sized businesses were under way and projects had saved more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year while a programme to better insulate social homes had seen more than 4,000 properties receiving free upgrades since 2022.

The WYCA spokesperson added: "The mayor is attending the C40 World Mayors Summit to discuss and debate ideas for how best to tackle the climate crisis at a local level, meeting leading mayors from across the globe."

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