Nigel Farage and Liz Truss were spotted attending the launch of the UK branch of a climate denying lobby group, set to be headed up by a former Ukip leader.
The Heartland Institute, a US based lobby group which has previously made extreme statements sceptical of climate change, launched its UK-EU branch last month, based in London.
Mr Farage, who was the guest of honour at the launch, was joined by former prime minister Ms Truss and Tory shadow trade minister Andrew Griffith.
Former Ukip leader Lois Perry, who is set to lead the new branch, has previously described the climate emergency as “a scam”.
Announcing the launch, Heartland - which has links to the Trump administration - boasted that it is “the world’s most prominent think tank supporting scepticism about man-made climate change”.
It said Ms Perry plans to “leverage Heartland’s science-based work pushing back at climate alarmism and schemes such as Net Zero from London where she can communicate directly with policymakers in the UK and the Continent.”
In 2012, the institute launched a poster campaign comparing those concerned about global warming to Osama Bin Laden and the Unabomber, a US terrorist who killed three people and injured others.
It has also incorrectly claimed that heatwaves and temperatures in the US are not increasing as a result of climate change.
The launch, which took place in December, was held in the Brook’s private members club in Mayfair, an exclusive club which is one of the few remaining gentlemen’s clubs to not admit women.
In a statement, the president of the Heartland Institute James Taylor said: “During recent years, a growing number of policymakers in the UK and continental Europe have requested Heartland establish a satellite office to provide resources to conservative policymakers throughout Europe.
“With our UK and European launch, we aim to fulfill this requested impact throughout Europe.”
It comes as Mr Farage’s party, Reform UK, ramps up its anti-net zero rhetoric, calling for the scrapping of climate-related farming subsidies and suggesting the world should “adapt to [global] warming, rather than pretend we can stop it.”
And in an interview with Mr Taylor in October, the Reform leader claimed those who are against net zero are “gaining ground”.
Bob Ward, the director of communications at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, told the Guardian that Heartland “no doubt feels emboldened by the prospect of a new Trump administration that is promising to carry out an ideological purge of anything related to climate action”.
Green party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said the founding of a new branch in the UK is an attempt to “import dirty US climate-denying money into British politics”.
“That Farage seems so willing to sell out British interests and front climate denial for his own short-term gain should alarm us all,” he said.
Mr Griffith told the Guardian: “In any year, I attend hundreds of external events with business organisations and thinktanks, none of which automatically imply my endorsement. A successful UK business environment requires competitive energy costs, something this socialist government seems not to understand.”
The Independent has contacted Nigel Farage, the Heartland Institute, and Andrew Griffith for comment. Ms Truss’ office declined to comment.
