Most conservative British lawmakers reject man-made climate change, poll finds

More than half the members of parliament from British Prime Minister David Cameron‘s Conservative Party don’t believe climate change is man-made, a revelation that could cloud the prime minister’s appearance at a United Nations-hosted climate summit this month.

A full 53 percent of Conservative MPs said the scientific consensus that humans are driving climate change hasn’t been confirmed, according to a PR Week survey of 119 members of parliament. Among conservatives as a whole, the share was greater, as 70 percent of Tories doubted man-made climate change.

The news comes as other major countries chiefs have said they won’t attend the Sept. 23 U.N. climate summit in New York, which Cameron is scheduled to attend.

The meeting is viewed as a pivotal prelude to international talks next year in Paris. Countries there will seek enough greenhouse gas-curbing commitments by 2020 to avoid a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise by 2100.

While other national leaders have bowed out of the New York event — Xi Jinping of China, Angela Merkel of Germany, Narendra Modi of India and *Stephen Harper of Canada among them — President Obama and reportedly 125 other heads of states will attend.

The situation Cameron faces at home is a bit different than Obama. Obama at least hails from a party that largely accepts that climate change is man-made. Cameron, on the other hand, is fighting his own party on the issue.

Still, securing a climate pact will likely be difficult for both leaders. The White House is reportedly searching for a way to commit the United States to whatever may come from next year’s Paris negotiations without Senate approval, as Republicans and centrist Democrats would likely thwart the 67 votes needed for ratification.

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