Tuesday 30 April 2019

UK Government should be put on ‘war footing’ against climate change

UK Government should be put on ‘war footing’ against climate change

The UK Government should be put on a 'war footing' against climate change.

That's according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which has launched the Environmental Justice Commission - this is a new group of cross-party politicians and figures from business, trade unions, civil society, academia and activism who have teamed up to plan how best to rapidly transition to a green economy.

Ed Miliband MP, Co-Chair of the group, says climate change is the "biggest threat to our economic and social wellbeing, and national security"

He said all the resources of government should be used to deliver a Green New Deal for the UK and urged that policies of "climate appeasement" must come to an end.

Other Co-Chairs are Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and former Conservative MP Laura Sandys.

The group has committed to finding a way the UK can realistically deliver goals to avoid global warming and has pledged to cut emissions to net zero in an economically and socially-fair way while also promising to reassess the UK’s environmental responsibilities on a global scale.

It has called for a green transformation of the entire economy, through which it says "hundreds of thousands" of good quality jobs would be created.

Ed Miliband, Labour party MP and Co-Chair of IPPR’s new Environmental Justice Commission, said: “We face a climate emergency. Climate change is the biggest threat to our economic and social wellbeing, and to our national security. Politics needs to be on a war footing to deal with this enemy but too often it sends the message that business as usual will do.

“We need a revolution in political leadership; the problem we face is not just climate denial but climate appeasement. This commission brings together people from all walks of life, generations and political parties to bring about the solutions we need.

“It is time to put economic and social justice at the heart of the environmental cause. Our work will show how we should deploy all the resources of government to deliver a Green New Deal for the UK, putting our country to work on tackling this threat.”

A BEIS Spokesperson said: “This government recognises the impact climate change is having on our environment, which is why we have made it our mission and are taking action to protect our planet for future generations.

"We’ve already gone further than any other G7 nation by cutting our emissions by more than 40% since 1990 while growing our economy by two-thirds, but we want to go further. That’s why last October we asked independent climate experts for their advice on a net zero emissions target, and its report this week will shape our climate targets for years to come.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

Trending Articles