Lord Lawson’s climate science denying Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has been forced to declared Matt Ridley’s financial interest in coal mining.

Self-style climate ‘lukewarmist’ Matt Ridley has written an essay for the GWPF lamenting the current state of science. “I genuinely worry that science itself is being damaged by this episode” he writes of leading scientists warning of the risks of catastrophic climate change.

But for those looking closely, perhaps the most interesting line was contained in the pamphlet’s ‘about the author’ statement.

It reads: “Matt Ridley is one of the world’s foremost science writers. His books have sold over a million copies and been translated into 30 languages. His new book The Evolution of Everything was published in 2015. He is a member of the GWPF’s Academic Advisory Council. As a landowner, he receives a wayleave income from a coal-mining company.” (Emphasis added.)

This admission comes just a week after protesters blocked operations for a day at his Northumberland coal mine. Yes, the very coal mine from which he earns the wayleave mentioned by the GWPFclearly pressure is mounting if the climate denial group is now feeling obligated to declare Ridley’s ties to the dirtiest fossil fuel of them all.

Indeed, DeSmog UK has done extensive research into the profits earned by Ridley from his coal mining over the years – a number he refuses to declare. 

Looking through the GWPF website, Ridley has only written four publications for the group, including this latest one, ‘The Climate Wars’, where his essay is featured. Others were published in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In none of these previous publications is Ridley’s financial interest in coal mining mentioned in his author description.

This marks a substantial shift from the GWPF and follows a similar admission by Ridley in a recent Times article where he described himself as a “coal producer” rather than simply declaring a commercial interest in a coal company.