Commons Sense: MP Tan Dhesi on climate change

Now is the time to act on the climate and environmental crises we are facing. We have no time to waste.

It was for this reason that I supported the House of Commons’ declaration of an environment and climate emergency on May 1.

Unless we take rapid action to reduce the carbon dioxide we are releasing into the atmosphere, we face catastrophe.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the international body responsible for assessing the science on climate change – has made clear that we need to act on climate change over the next 12 years or forever miss the opportunity to do anything about it.

The international body responsible for advising the international community on biodiversity and ecosystems meanwhile has found that nature is declining globally at unprecedented rates and that transformative changes are needed to restore and protect it.

These international reports make clear that if we continue on our current path, we face unthinkable damage throughout the UK and for people and communities around the world.

The government must show a lead on this. Declaring an environment and climate emergency means recognising this fact and taking action.

It means reducing our greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible and down to net zero before 2050, with short-term targets for green energy and sustainable transport.

It means properly funding environmental protection and legislating to move towards a zero-waste economy.

It means a green industrial revolution to capture the jobs of the future, while protecting vulnerable workers and members of the public. It means restoring our wildlife and biodiversity to levels we have not seen in over a generation.

Above all, it must mean devoting the time and resources necessary to deal with the scale of the problem we face.

The Labour Party is developing a policy agenda to tackle this, and we are pushing an economic agenda that will deliver a green industrial revolution.

Time is of the essence and urgent action is needed before it is too late.