MPs demand tougher action from ministers after new climate change warning
3 min read
MPs have demanded urgent action from ministers to stem a global temperature surge after a damning new report laid bare the dangers of climate change.
The research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the rise in the global temperature was on course to breach the 1.5C limit agreed in the Paris clwithin 12 years.
Such a rise would lead to "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society", the report concluded.
Green MP Caroline Lucas said the findings showed that “we are at a tipping point on the edge of complete climate breakdown, and governments around the world are failing to prevent it.”
She urged the Government to “overhaul” its approach on the environment or risk natural disasters becoming the “the norm”.
“Our own government is pushing us towards that tipping point with carbon intensive and ecologically destructive projects like airport expansion, fracking and HS2 - while slashing support for renewables and continuing to subsidise fossil fuels,” she said.
"Ministers have a choice: they can keep coating business-as-usual policies in a green veneer and watch as floods and heatwaves become the norm.
“Or they can embrace the opportunities to create a fairer, healthier, safer society that come with the economic overhaul we need."
Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey also called for “a transformational effort” on the issue and criticised the Government’s record.
She said: "The Tories are way off course to meeting our existing climate targets, and every day this government remains in power the window of opportunity to tackle the climate crisis shrinks.
“It is a cruel irony that today we were also expecting the first horizontal shale fracking in the UK - an industry the government has pushed at the expense of local communities, air quality and our climate."
Labour MP Mary Creagh, who is chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, demanded “leadership” in the global fight to reduce carbon emissions.
She told PoliticsHome: “This report is a wake-up call. Time is running out to change our way of life support our children’s low-carbon future…
"We must limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees to keep hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, save the world’s coral reefs from destruction, and protect communities from floods, fires and heatwaves.”
Energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry said: "I welcome the strong scientific analysis behind today’s IPCC report and its conclusions are stark and sober. As policy makers we need to work together to accelerate the low carbon transition to minimise the costs and misery of a rapidly warming world.
"In the UK we have shown great leadership with the passage of the world’s first Climate Change Act a decade ago, the most rapid decarbonisation in the G7 and a comprehensive Clean Growth Strategy detailing policies to cut carbon right across the economy.
"Our upcoming Green GB Week from October 15 will help us reflect on this progress but also the urgent need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions globally."
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