Wednesday 12 February 2020

Michael Gove: UK is ‘anxious, angry and determined to tackle climate change’

Anxiety, anger and a nationwide determination to tackle climate change are rising to the fore in the UK ahead of COP26.

That's the suggestion from Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who spoke at Green Alliance's 'Countdown to COP' event in London yesterday -  he said the public, businesses and civil society are becoming more motivated to drive down emissions and noted the country could "this year see genuine success with regards to tackling climate change".

He highlighted "a global shift politically about the scale of the challenge and the need to act", citing swelling grassroots political movements, the rapid growth of climate awareness and the increasingly evident effects of a "planet going through a profound change", such as Australian wildfires and extreme climate events across the UK.

Mr Gove said together, these factors have created "the right political framework for action" and said the UK and Scottish Government were committed to casting their differences aside in order to ensure COP26 is a success.

He added he hopes the UK will continue to collaborate on the climate issue with other European countries and said this would be required "in order to achieve the diplomatic success and breakthroughs that we need".

He stated: "The government recognises that there is so much more that we need to do, in order genuinely to demonstrate leadership. It is not enough to look at the trajectory in the past, we need to be even more ambitious in the future."