Support for Miliband on climate statement but strong action needed

The UK Energy and Net Zero Secretary has won the support of NGOs and environmental organisations across the country after taking a firm stance against climate and science-deniers while delivering a passionate case for climate action in his first annual statement to parliament on the worsening impacts of global warming.

Referencing the latest State of the UK Climate report from the Met Office, Ed Miliband laid out the “uncomfortable and sobering facts” of the increasingly unstable climate we now face. He told MPs how extreme heat and heavy rainfall are already happening more frequently because of climate breakdown brought on by fossil fuel emissions.

The Secretary took the chance to call out the anti-climate and anti-science rhetoric being peddled by those in both the Conservative and Reform parties; the former has abandoned the net zero by 2050 target (a row-back on the sentiments first brought forward by the former Conservative leader, Theresa May) while the latter has started to question the impacts of human-induced climate change altogether.

Ami McCarthy, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said: “Miliband is right to call out the breathless nonsense spouted by opportunistic political leaders like Farage and Trump who deny climate change as they rake in donations from fossil fuel companies. They are fighting against a safe future on this planet in order to continue with business as usual.”

In his statement, the Energy and Net Zero Secretary highlighted how the UK has led global efforts to bring emissions down, including passing the 2008 Climate Change Act, which was then copied around the world while becoming the first country to set legally binding nature targets. 

Talking about how the climate was changing, Miliband, said: “The science is unequivocal about why this is happening. As the Met Office said this morning, this is not a natural variation in our climate.”

Extreme weather has led to some of the worst harvests in recent UK history, the report released yesterday confirmed, Miliband told MPs. Yet, while the UK was a relatively small contributor to emissions, he championed its role as a world leader in the response.

“We remain way off track from where we need to be as a world, but we in this country have helped make a difference,” he said. “The lesson is clear. The choices we make as a country have influenced the cause of global action, and in doing so, reduced the impact of the climate and nature crisis on future generations in Britain.

“To those who say Britain cannot make a difference. I say: you are wrong. Stop talking our country down. British leadership matters.”