Tories push for climate change action abroad but back fossil fuels at home

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond tells US free-marketeers that climate action boosts economies, while at home George Osborne undermines the green economy

Perhaps it's being forced to think about global matters and the dangers they pose, but the UK's foreign secretary Philip Hammond, like his Conservative predecessor, both understands the risks of climate change and the urgent need to act.

In a powerful speechthis week, he said: "Taking action to combat climate change is the right thing to do - the conservative thing to do." Hammond had deliberately picked a tough crowd: the American Enterprise Institute, the free-marketeers who have for years have turned ExxonMobil and Koch dollars into climate change denial.