How many more institutions and politicians, let alone protesters, have to say we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground?

On October 25th the Lancet published its annual Countdown on Health and Climate Change report in which it stated that world governments are “putting the health of all people alive today and future generations at risk” by locking in dependence on fossil fuels.

On the same day a Unicef report warned that funding has to be increased to protect children and vulnerable communities from worsening heatwaves; a day later the United Nations reported that current NDCs will lead to 2.5C warming and that only 24 out of 193 nations had updated their plans as asked at COP26. The UN Secretary General, in an interview with the BBC stated that countries should not invest in more fossil fuels…. 

This is the defining issue of our time, nobody has the right to sacrifice international action on climate change for any reason.……..We need to tell the truth. The truth is that the impact of climate change on a number of countries in the world, especially hotspots, is already devastating”.The most stupid thing is to bet on what has led us to this disaster.

Also on the 25th Alok Sharma asked our government to ‘explain and demonstrate’ how new oil and gas development can align with the Net Zero target. The short answer is it can’t and it needn’t if investment in fossil fuels were to go to renewables and insulation projects instead. Meanwhile it was reported that BEIS data shows “that with existing and near-fully planned policies, the UK is projected to emit nearly double the amount of pollution as it should do under its 2030s goals”.

There are signs that the government’s environmental policy may be taking steps in the right direction with the appointment of Therese Coffey as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Rishi Sunak declaring that the moratorium on fracking will be retained.

Climate Income of course would send the clear message that it pays to decarbonise whilst protecting households from rising fossil fuel costs during the transition.

With change in the air now may be as good a time as any to write to your MP and, if you haven’t already done so, submit a response to the Net Zero Consultation. Thanks to all the members who have done so already, it does make a difference!