Climate minister under fire for jetting to 30 countries – including several on red list
Climate minister Alok Sharma’s air travel to 30 countries in seven months is “bizarre” and sets a bad example ahead of COP26, a Labour minister has said.
Speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News, David Lammy told that reports that COP26 President Mr Sharma flew tens of thousands of miles during the pandemic are “worrying” and demonstrate that “it is one rule for them and another rule for us”.
The government’s climate minister is under fire for flying to dozens of countries since the start of the pandemic.
Mr Sharma made 30 international trips in the latest seven months, including to six countries which are on the government’s COVID-19 red list, the Daily Mail newspaper has reported.
It is believed many of the trips took place while international travel was all but banned in the UK and that Mr Sharma did not have to isolate after any of them as he was a “crown servant” on state business, an exemption that does, however, require a negative COVID test.
Speaking on Sky News, shadow justice secretary Mr Lammy questioned whether the amount of foreign travel Mr Sharma has undertaken was necessary.
“Well the optics are very clear – it is one rule for them and another rule for us. Whether it is Dominic Cummings, whether it is Matt Hancock, whether it is Alok Sharma,” he said.
“And I’ve got to say, of course some international travel is required – but this amount of international travel when you are climate change minister feels to be bizarre and feels to not be setting the example.
“Particularly when there is quite widespread criticism of Britain’s response to COP – just 100 days to go.
“So I think this is worrying. But it is more of the same from a government that really feels like the rules do not apply to them and their ministers and their class and groups of friends.”
Alok Sharma visited Japan’s prime minister in Tokyo in April when the government had placed the capital in a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 cases
Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Sarah Olney echoed this point, adding: “While Alok Sharma flies to red-list countries with abandon, hard-working families can hardly see loved ones or plan holidays as the government changes travel rules on the hoof.”
And Green party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb said the trips were “excessive”.
“When you’re in charge of COP26, to take this many flights is hypocritical,” she said.
The revelations come as the UK prepares to cost the COP26 global environment summit this autumn – now less than 100 days away.
Ministers are hoping to use the event to get countries around the world to try to agree measures to slash carbon emissions and limit global warming.
Mr Sharma’s thousands of air miles in the past year have been seen as hypocritical in this light, with the aviation industry responsible for 2% of all human-induced carbon dioxide emissions, according to the air transport action group.
The climate minister’s Instagram feed shows him travelling to various countries, including India in February and Bolivia and Brazil more recently – both of which are currently on the government’s red list.
Other reported red list destinations have included Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Turkey.
The government says Mr Sharma is tasked with securing commitments from key nations as he prepares to host the climate summit in Glasgow later this year which has required some international travel.
But there has also been some backlash against the COP26 president’s exemption from quarantine when travelling back from red list countries.
Under government guidelines, those travelling back from the 33 higher risk countries – including Bolivia and Brazil – face a mandatory 10-day stay in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £2,285 – upped from £1,750 in the latest government travel update.
But as a “crown servant”, which encompasses ministers as well as diplomats and defence or border security officials, Mr Sharma does not have to isolate as part of an exemption written into the COVID travel rules.
The guidelines for returning from red list countries states: ‘You need to quarantine in a government approved hotel if you have been in a country on the travel ban red list in the 10 days before you arrive in the UK unless a relevant department of the UK government has certified that you are not required to do so and are:
- a crown servant or government contractor travelling to the UK for essential government work or returning from such work outside the UK
- returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK
- returning to the UK where this is necessary to facilitate the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post of Her Majesty or of a military/other official posting on behalf of Her Majesty
It adds that the ‘relevant government department’ will issue a letter certifying that someone falls into one of the above categories and is therefore exempt from hotel quarantine.
Those exempt are still expected to complete COVID tests on day 2 and day 8 ‘where reasonably practicable’, but do not need to complete the mandatory testing requirements if a relevant department of the UK government has certified that they are ‘a crown servant or government contractor travelling for essential government work’ or ‘returning from conducting essential state business’.
Government sources told Sky News: “Face to face diplomacy is vital to securing commitments from key countries at COP26.
“All UK government ministers who travel abroad are subject to the same rules on quarantine and to a covid secure testing regime.”
A government spokesperson added: “Helping the world tackle the climate emergency is an international priority for the government.
“Virtual meetings play a large part, however face to face meetings are key to success in the climate negotiations the UK is leading as hosts of COP26 and are crucial to understanding first-hand the opportunities and challenges other countries are facing in the fight against climate change.”
Sky News has approached Mr Sharma’s office for comment.
The new trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump may place added pressure on the Bitcoin mining ecosystem both domestically and globally, according to one industry executive.
While the US is home to Bitcoin (BTC) mining manufacturing firms such as Auradine, it’s still “not possible to make the whole supply chain, including materials, US-based,” Kristian Csepcsar, chief marketing officer at BTC mining tech provider Braiins, told Cointelegraph.
On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a 10% tariff on all countries that export to the US and introducing “reciprocal” levies targeting America’s key trading partners.
Community members have debated the potential effects of the tariffs on Bitcoin, with some saying their impact has been overstated, while others see them as a significant threat.
Tariffs compound existing mining challenges
Csepcsar said the mining industry is already experiencing tough times, pointing to key indicators like the BTC hashprice.
Hashprice — a measure of a miner’s daily revenue per unit of hash power spent to mine BTC blocks — has been on the decline since 2022 and dropped to all-time lows of $50 for the first time in 2024.
According to data from Bitbo, the BTC hashprice was still hovering around all-time low levels of $53 on March 30.
Bitcoin hashprice since late 2013. Source: Bitbo
“Hashprice is the key metric miners follow to understand their bottom line. It is how many dollars one terahash makes a day. A key profitability metric, and it is at all-time lows, ever,” Csepcsar said.
He added that mining equipment tariffs were already increasing under the Biden administration in 2024, and cited comments from Summer Meng, general manager at Chinese crypto mining supplier Bitmars.
Source: Summer Meng
“But they keep getting stricter under Trump,” Csepcsar added, referring to companies such as the China-based Bitmain — the world’s largest ASIC manufacturer — which is subject to the new tariffs.
Trump’s latest measures include a 34% additional tariff on top of an existing 20% levy for Chinese mining imports. In response, China reportedly imposed its own retaliatory tariffs on April 4.
BTC mining firms to “lose in the short term”
Csepcsar also noted that cutting-edge chips for crypto mining are currently massively produced in countries like Taiwan and South Korea, which were hit by new 32% and 25% tariffs, respectively.
“It will take a decade for the US to catch up with cutting-edge chip manufacturing. So again, companies, including American ones, lose in the short term,” he said.
Source: jmhorp
Csepcsar also observed that some countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States region, including Russia and Kazakhstan, have been beefing up mining efforts and could potentially overtake the US in hashrate dominance.
Related: Bitcoin mining using coal energy down 43% since 2011 — Report
“If we continue to see trade war, these regions with low tariffs and more favorable mining conditions can see a major boom,” Csepcsar warned.
As the newly announced tariffs potentially hurt Bitcoin mining both globally and in the US, it may become more difficult for Trump to keep his promise of making the US the global mining leader.
Trump’s stance on crypto has shifted multiple times over the years. As his administration embraces a more pro-crypto agenda, it remains to be seen how the latest economic policies will impact his long-term strategy for digital assets.
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Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under renewed regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Maltese authorities issued a major fine for violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.
Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) fined Okcoin Europe — OKX’s Europe-based subsidiary — 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after detecting multiple AML failures on the platform in the past, the authority announced on April 3.
While admitting that OKX has significantly improved its AML policies in the past 18 months, the authority “could not ignore” its past compliance failures from 2023, “some of which were deemed to be serious and systematic,” the FIAU notice said.
OKX was among the first crypto exchanges to receive a license under Europe’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation via its Malta hub in January 2025.
The news of the $1.2 million penalty in Malta came after Bloomberg in March reported that European Union regulators were probing OKX for laundering $100 million in funds from the Bybit hack.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously claimed that OKX’s Web3 proxy allowed hackers to launder about $100 million, or 40,233 Ether (ETH), from the $1.5 billion hack that occurred in February.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
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Authorities in the US state of Massachusetts continue targeting unlawful cryptocurrency market practices, with a local court fining crypto financial services firm CLS Global.
A federal court in Boston on April 2 sentenced CLS Global on criminal charges related to fraudulent manipulation of crypto trading volume, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office.
In addition to a $428,059 fine, the court prohibited CLS Global from offering services in the US for a probation period of three years.
CLS Global, a crypto market maker registered in the United Arab Emirates, in January pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and one count of wire fraud.
CLS agreed to manipulate the FBI’s “trap token” NexFundAI
The charges against CLS Global followed an undercover law enforcement operation involving NexFundAI, a token created by the FBI as part of a sting operation in May 2024.
CLS Global was among at least three firms that took the FBI’s bait and agreed to provide “market maker services” for NexFundAI, including a fraudulent scheme to attract investors to purchase the token.
In October 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against CLS and its employee, Andrey Zhorzhes. The US securities regulator also filed complaints against two other NexFundAI manipulators, Hong Kong-linked ZM Quant Investment and Russia-linked Gotbit Consulting.
CLS Global’s profile
According to CLS Global CEO Filipp Veselov, the company was founded in 2017 to fill in a “huge gap in the market for high-quality market-making solutions and trading consulting.”
Prior to CLS, Veselov worked at the Russian cryptocurrency exchange platform Latoken, which is advertised as a “global digital asset exchange” and has about 370,000 followers on X.
The CLS team also includes chief revenue officer Pavel Singaevskii, who previously served as sales manager at Stex, a crypto platform that reportedly ceased operations without warning in 2023.
Source: CLS Global
According to CLS Global’s X page, the platform continues operating and has more than 110,000 followers at the time of publication.
How much wash trading is in crypto?
Wash trading is an illegal practice involving artificially inflating trading volume by repeatedly buying and selling the same asset, generating a misleading perception of demand.
According to a January 2025 report by the US blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the crypto market has at least $2.6 billion in estimated wash traded volumes, or just about 2% of total daily crypto trading volumes, as reported by CoinGecko.
Estimated wash trade volume in crypto. Source: Chainalysis
Related: Russian Gotbit founder strikes $23M plea deal with US prosecutors
Some studies indicate that wash trading makes up a bigger share of the crypto market.
In 2022, the US National Bureau of Economic Research reported that illegal wash trading may account for as much as 70% of average trading volumes on unregulated exchanges.
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