UK warned not to back Mathias Cormann as new OECD head

Support for Australian ex-minister with poor record on climate crisis would send terrible message'

The UK has been warned not to send a dreadful message to the rest of the world by backing a controversial Australian former minister with a much-criticised climate change record to run the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The race to be the next secretary-general of the OECD - the Paris-based economic thinktank that advises governments across the world - has narrowed to Mathias Cormann, the former Australian finance minister, and Cecilia Malmstrom, the former EU trade commissioner and Swedish centrist politician. The result is due by 15 March.

Related: 'Not a suitable candidate': climate groups urge OECD not to appoint Mathias Cormann as next head

Related: Mathias Cormann: the OECD candidate who helped destroy Australia's carbon-trading scheme