The one problem with David Cameron's championing of Paris climate deal

David Cameron has praised the climate change deal following two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN 'COP21' summit in Paris.

In a statement published on his official Facebook page, the prime minister said the final outcome marked an important step towards ensuring "that our children and grandchildren will see that we did our duty in securing the future of our planet".

In my speech on the opening day of the conference, I set out the things I believed were needed to make this a good deal. I said it would have to ensure the world's temperature would not rise more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels. In fact, the deal pledges to keep global warming 'well below' that figure – just as Britain had been calling for.

What is so special about this deal is that it puts the onus on every country to play its part. Britain has already been leading the way in that.

However, some have been quick to pull Cameron up on his all-singing, all-dancing championing of the deal.

While DC has claimed to lead the "greenest government ever", Friends of the Earth say the government has undone 10 years' worth of low carbon policies.

Remember the "get rid off all the green crap" debacle of 2013, when an unnamed Tory sources was quoted in The Sun as saying:

The Prime Minister is going round Number 10 saying 'We have got to get rid of all this green crap'. He is totally focused on it.

We used to say 'Vote Blue, Go Green', now it's 'Vote Blue, Get Real'.

In fact, since the general election the Conservatives have scrapped a whole bunch of green policies... and introduced some rather harmful ones instead:

• Scrapped: Subsidies for onshore wind and commercial solar energy

• Scrapped:The "flagship" Green Deal which gave energy efficiency subsidies for homeowners

• Scrapped: Planning to sell off the Green Investment Bank - launched under the Coalition, the bank's remit was to invest in green schemes that struggle to raise capital from the private sector

• Scrapped: The tax incentive to buy a low carbon car

• Introduced: Allowing British farmers to ignore a Europe-wide ban on pesticides that have been linked to the decline in bee population

More: Figures show 'greenest government ever' is failing to reach targets

More: The final nail in the coffin for the greenest government ever?