COP27: Climate leadership needs action, not words
- Friends of the Earth spokespeople available.
As the international community heads to Egypt for the latest UN summit on climate change [COP27], Friends of the Earth is urging the UK government to show real leadership on this crucial issue.
Despite hosting last year’s climate summit in Glasgow and holding the current COP presidency (until Sunday) the UK government is falling short on climate commitments. Last week, Lord Deben, chair of the Committee on Climate Change, the UK’s independent climate advisor, warned the UK’s delivery on climate change has been “appalling”.
The UK is currently way off-track for meeting its legally binding climate targets. And following a legal challenge by Friends of the Earth and others earlier this year, the government’s Net Zero Strategy was ruled to be unlawful because ministers hadn’t shown how legally binding targets will be met.
Rachel Kennerley, international climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
“With the climate clock ticking ever closer to midnight, tougher action to slash planet-heating emissions is now more urgent than ever.
“Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to attend the summit is a welcome step, but he must back it up with bold government action.
“This must include rejecting a new coal mine in Cumbria, ending UK funding for a hugely damaging gas project in Mozambique, and committing more money to poorer nations on the frontlines of a crisis they have done the least to cause.
“Fast-tracking the transition to a cleaner, greener future will also bring huge benefits for people and the economy and help provide long-term solutions to the cost of living and energy crises.
“The Prime Minister must also remove the barriers to onshore wind and solar, which are cheap, quick to build and popular with the public, and roll out a street-by-street home insulation programme to cut gas use, reduce bills, and help keep people warm.”
Friends of the Earth welcomed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision last month to reintroduce a ban on fracking and is urging him to go much further to make the transformation to a fairer, green future a top priority. This should include:
- Ending funding for an environmentally damaging gas mega-project in Mozambique.
Despite promising to stop funding overseas gas and oil projects, the UK government is continuing to help fund the project with over $1bn of UK taxpayers’ money through UK Export Finance (UKEF). A Friends of the Earth judicial review against the government’s decision will be heard by the Court of Appeal in December.
- Rejecting a planning application for a new coal mine in Cumbria.
A decision on the controversial mine was due in the run up to the Climate summit in Egypt, but it has been postponed until after the talks and is now due “on or before 8 December”.
- Committing significant funding to help poorer nations to deal with the growing impacts of the climate emergency – a crisis the UK and other wealthy industrialised nations have done the most to cause.
- Ending the licensing of new gas and oil projects in the North Sea
- Removing the planning barriers to onshore wind and solar and investing in a nationwide street by street home insulation programme – part funded by a bigger, bolder windfall tax on soaring fossil fuel firm profits
