Words from
The leading world body for the assessment of climate change reported that within the next two decades, temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, breaching the ambition of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and bringing widespread devastation and extreme weather. The report could not have been timelier, published just as firefighters across Europe were being deployed to tackle the raging wildfires in Greece and fires blazed in western North America. Extreme weather reports are no longer unusual – when it’s not blazing, parts of the world are flooding, like those recently in Germany, China, and the UK. Frightening though the report is, it has been clear for decades that the Earth’s climate is changing, and the role of human influence on the climate system is undisputed.
Mohammad Yasin, MP for Bedford and Kempston The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published earlier this month is the starkest reminder yet that the climate crisis is here right now and is the biggest long-term threat we face.
I take comfort in the fact that as humans have caused it, we also have the power to reverse it. But time has run out for talk and gestures. We must make the changes necessary to match the scale of the problem and with the level of urgency we have seen across the world in trying to combat the pandemic. The evidence is abundantly clear that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of climate change, even as other greenhouse gases and air pollutants also affect the climate. “Stabilizing the climate will require strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reaching net zero CO2 emissions. Limiting other greenhouse gases and air pollutants, especially methane, could have benefits both for health and the climate.” As we prepare to host Cop 26, perhaps the Earth’s last chance for political leaders to bring in the urgent measures needed to drive down emissions, I hope leaders take the opportunity to deliver progressive solutions for our citizens to ensure a global effort to tackle the climate and nature crisis and limit global heating to 1.5 degrees. It can feel overwhelming for governments and individuals to make the necessary changes to the way we all live our lives. But the biggest threat we now face isn’t climate denial but climate delay. The small differences we can make as individuals are vital because our consumer power means small changes lead to big changes, but we need action from political leaders both here and across the globe to help us make those changes whether it is to make electric cars affordable or massively ramp up cheap and accessible solar panel and renewable energy initiatives.
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