Tracy Brabin trip to Brazil funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies not taxpayer, WYCA says
No public money has been spent on mayor Tracy Brabin’s trip to Brazil, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has said.
Ms Brabin has travelled to Rio de Janeiro this week for the C40 World Mayors Summit ahead of Cop30, to push for bolder action on climate change.
She said: “I’m joining London Mayor Sadiq Khan in Rio this week to show that with devolution, we no longer have to sit around and wait for national leaders to rescue us from the cost of living and the climate crisis - we can take bold action ourselves to deliver real change.”
However she’s come under criticism for jetting to Brazil to attend a climate conference.
The WYCA made clear that the trip has been funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable foundation of former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and not the taxpayer.
A spokesperson said: “The Mayor is attending the C40 World Mayors Summit to discuss and debate ideas for how best to tackle the climate crisis at a local level, meeting leading Mayors from across the globe.
“The Mayor's trip is being supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, and no public money has been spent on her attendance at the event, which is part of the COP30 Local Leaders Forum.”