Category: Environment

Nia Griffith – 2022 Question on Publicly Owned Energy Companies

The question asked by Dame Nia Griffith, the Labour MP for Llanelli, in the House of Commons on 9 November 2022.

The Welsh Labour Government are setting up a publicly owned company to accelerate investment in onshore wind and other renewables, thus reducing emissions, increasing energy security and using profit for the public good. Given that onshore wind is the cheapest form of renewable energy, when will the Prime Minister step up to the mark, match the Welsh Government and bring forward an accelerated investment programme for onshore wind across England?

The Prime Minister

There has been a slightly chequered history of Labour councils and publicly owned energy companies—in Nottingham, from memory—and that is not a model that we want to emulate. However, we are supporting Wales with the transition. We invested in the Holyhead hydrogen hub, which is a potential future opportunity, and we are looking at nuclear sites and, as we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Stephen Crabb), at the huge potential of floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, which will also all be good for Wales.

November 11, 2022
Alok Sharma – 2022 Speech at COP27 Breakthrough Agenda – One Year On

The speech made by Alok Sharma, the President of COP26, on 11 November 2022.

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the UK Pavilion and decarbonisation day.

We are half way through COP and obviously I can see the experienced folk who are able to get here at 8am in the morning, others are flagging but thank you for coming to this important event.

Can I also say that today marks Armistice Day and the UK Pavilion will be marking a 2 minute silence at 1pm. You’re all welcome but if you are coming please try and get there 5 minutes before 1pm.

Ministers, colleagues, friends. Good morning to you, firstly a big thank you to everyone who helped get us to this point when it comes to the Breakthrough Agendas.

And, you have been incredibly supportive over the three years of the UK’s Presidency and I know that you will do the same for our friends in Egypt as well, both at this COP but also in their presidency year as well.

So we are marking a one-year launch anniversary of the Breakthrough Agenda in Glasgow.

And, just a reflection on decarbonisation. We’re all doing our bit domestically in our countries and when I was Business and Energy Secretary in our Government, we launched the 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution looking at a whole range of sectors where we needed to decarbonise rapidly.

We launched our energy white paper so there is a lot of work that certainly the UK has done and each of you have done domestically as well in your countries.

The aim of the Breakthrough Agenda was actually to bring countries together to collaborate and make sure that we decarbonise the most critical sectors: Road Transport, Power, Agriculture, Hydrogen and Steel.

And I was really pleased to say that we had 45 governments coming together and they account for around 75 percent of global GDP, so a real heft behind this Breakthrough Agenda work.

And the aim of it of course is to deploy innovative and sustainable decarbonisation solutions, and very importantly to make them accessible and affordable for everyone.

And for people like Stephen Guilbeault, my friend Grant Shapps, ministers who talk to their counterparts around the world will know that one of the big asks of many developing nations is technology at affordable levels as well as finance.

This is an agenda that will help us get there and we have made really good progress over the last year

If you have a look at Zero Emission Vehicles.

There has been a 95 percent increase in global sales, with 1.5 million sold in the first quarter of this year.

And the pace of that is accelerating, same thing with renewables with a big increase this year.

And if you have a look at what the IEA has said, their analysis shows that of all the newly installed energy capacity across the world in 2021, 90% of that was renewables and they expect the same thing in 2022 and 2023 as well.

So I am really pleased that we are making progress across some of these agendas.

I want to welcome Cambodia and Austria, who have recently endorsed the Breakthrough Agenda.

I also want to thank our friends in Germany, Cambodia, Australia and Ireland for endorsing the Agriculture Breakthrough.

And thank you to our friends in France, who have expanded our scope and they have the intent now to launch a Buildings Breakthrough, which as you know in the UK 25% of emissions come from buildings, they’re going to do that in collaboration with our friends from Morocco.

And of course thank you also to Canada, Steven who stated their intent to launch a Cement Breakthrough as well.

But the reality is we know that as with all the commitments we got in Glasgow, that none of this will count for anything unless we actually follow through and we implement so I hope that is something that we will be doing together.

Now one of the other things that people have said to me during this year is that you launched lots of initiatives in Glasgow but what happens when your presidency ends and it has ended.

And what we have tried to do is to house many of these in different forums so that the work can continue

So I can tell you that Mission Innovation and the Clean Energy Ministerial is going to take on the joint stewardship of the Breakthrough Agenda, they’ll do that for an initial pilot phase of one year.

Many of you were with us in New York as well at the UN General Assembly and you will know that on the side lines we also launched the first Breakthrough Agenda Report, put together by the IEA, by IRENA and the High Level Champions, so thank you to all of them and the ministers who attended that meeting at the UK mission

And subsequent of that we have agreed to launch a set of specific and time-bound priority actions.

Four that I want to highlight.

One, collectively we will be developing standards and rules for trade.

Secondly, we are developing demand creation plans.

Thirdly, we are working to improve the provision of finance, international assistance and research.

And fourthly we are taking steps to enhance development and demonstration.

Now I just want to give you a concrete example, one of the priority actions focuses on the research, development and deployment of technologies at that really crucial intersection of climate and food security, and that’s work being done as part of the Agriculture Breakthrough.

And I am also delighted to tell you that 28 leading countries in these areas have agreed to take forward these actions across all five sectors, and collectively that represents over 50 percent of global GDP.

The final thing I want to say is that you all know this, the cost of inaction on this issue is going to be significantly more than the cost of action.

And we have a real opportunity here to build economies and to build green jobs and actually at the end of the day deliver not only a clean environment but also a wealthier set of communities across the world.

So thank you for everything you are doing and we look forward to continuing to work with you.

November 11, 2022
Ian Blackford – 2022 Speech on COP27

The speech made by Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, in the House of Commons on 9 November 2022.

I thank the Prime Minister for advance sight of his statement. Let me also welcome his last-minute change of heart to attend COP27. But I am afraid that, whether he likes it or not, his initial instinct not to attend will be long remembered, and rightly so. It means that he now has a major job to convince people that he is truly committed to the challenge of climate change.

That commitment starts with our own domestic targets, but it is vital that our collective commitment extends to those in the global south. Nations and peoples are being damaged the most by a climate crisis that they have contributed the least to. These are the poorest people on this planet and they always seem to pay the highest price. That is why it is so right and necessary that loss and damage were on the formal COP agenda for the first time.

I am proud to say that, through the leadership of our First Minister, Scotland has become the first developed nation to pledge finance to address loss and damage. Our country is now committed to a total of £7 million—a small sum on the scale of what is needed, but a powerful message to larger nations that need to follow that lead. We do not need to wait for consensus and a decision at COP. We can start funding loss and damage programmes straightaway.

Will the Prime Minister guarantee that UK overseas aid earmarked for climate finance will be spent within the five-year timeframe, as originally promised? Will he also guarantee that the total aid budget will not be slashed further in the autumn statement next week? Finally, in terms of the new Prime Minister’s domestic targets on climate, will he honour the promises made to the north-east of Scotland on carbon capture and storage? Will he commit to taking the Scottish cluster off the Government’s reserve list and to fund it right now?

The Prime Minister

I am pleased that it was the UK that established a new Glasgow dialogue on loss and damage to discuss arrangements for funding activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, and those conversations are ongoing. With regard to our international climate finance pledges, as I say, we remain committed to the £11.6 billion, and it is our intention to deliver it over the timeframe that was originally envisaged. With regard to targets, again, it should be a source of enormous pride for everyone in this House that we have decarbonised in this country faster than any other G7 country. Our targets are among the most ambitious in the world and we have a credible plan to get on and deliver them.

November 10, 2022
Keir Starmer – 2022 Speech on COP27

The speech made by Sir Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, in the House of Commons on 9 November 2022.

I thank the Prime Minister for advance copy of his statement. May I start by raising the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah? As the Prime Minister knows and has said, he is a British citizen jailed for the crime of posting on social media and has been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the last nine years; he has been on hunger strike for the last six months. The Prime Minister just said that he raised this case with President Sisi; what progress did he make in securing Alaa’s release?

It is right that the Prime Minister eventually went to COP27. Remember the stakes: the world is heading for 2.8°C of warming—that is mass flooding, habitats destroyed, untold damage to lives and livelihoods. We must prevent that, for security, for the public finances and for the next generation. That is why it was inexplicable that he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to even get on the plane. Britain should be leading on the world stage, helping the world confront the greatest challenge of our time, but his snub, one of the first decisions of his premiership, was a terrible error of judgment and sent a clear message that if you’re looking for leadership from this Prime Minister, look elsewhere, and that if you want to get this Prime Minister to go somewhere, get the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) first—get him to come along, then the Prime Minister will follow.

And the Prime Minister’s reluctance is so bizarre because climate action is not just a once-in-a-generation responsibility, it is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity: an opportunity to lower energy bills for good; an opportunity to ensure Britain’s security is never again at the mercy of tyrants like Putin; an opportunity to create millions of jobs and break out of the Tory cycle of low growth and high taxes. They are opportunities that he is passing by.

The Prime Minister said in his speech at COP27 that we need to “act faster” on renewables, so why is he the roadblock at home? As he was flying to Egypt, his Minister was reaffirming the ban on onshore wind—the cheapest, cleanest form of power we have.

The Prime Minister also said at COP27 that he realises

“the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels”,

but he inserted a massive oil and gas giveaway when Labour forced him into a windfall tax: taxpayers cash handed over for digging up fossil fuels. Shell has made £26 billion in profits so far this year, but not a penny paid in windfall taxes; he has completely let it off the hook.

And what about the industries of the future? Manufacturers of batteries for cars in Britain: struggling. Green hydrogen producers: struggling. Yet in other countries, these industries are taking off: jobs going abroad because we have no industrial strategy here at home.

The Prime Minister also said at COP27 that it was

“right to honour our promises”

to developing countries. So why is he cutting the aid budget? It is always the same message, “Do as I say, not as I do,” and because of that, it will always fall on deaf ears.

It is time for a fresh start. A Labour Government would make Britain the first major economy to reach 100% clean power by 2030. That would cut bills, strengthen our energy security, create jobs, and make Britain a clean energy superpower. And our green prosperity plan would establish GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company, to invest in the technologies and the jobs of the future here in the UK.

As we attempt this endeavour, we have a fair wind at our back: not just the ingenuity and the brilliance of people and businesses in this country but the natural resources of our island nation. Wealth lies in our seas and in our skies, and it is an act of national self-harm not to prioritise them over expensive gas. That is the choice at the next general election, whenever it comes: more of the same with the Tories or a fairer, greener future with Labour.

November 10, 2022
Rishi Sunak – 2022 Statement to the House of Commons on COP27

The statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 9 November 2022.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on COP27 which I attended in Sharm El Sheikh on Monday.

When the UK took on the UK Presidency of COP just one third of the global economy was committed to net zero.

Today that figure is 90 percent.

And the reduction in global emissions pledged during our Presidency is now equivalent to the entire annual emissions of America.

There is still a long way to go to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.

But the historic Glasgow Climate Pact kept that goal within reach.

And the whole House, I know, will want to join me in paying tribute to My Rt Hon Friend the Member for Reading West for his inspirational leadership as COP President.

The question at this Summit, Mr Speaker, was whether countries would deliver on their promises.

I’m pleased to say that our nation will.

We have already cut our carbon emissions faster than anyone else in the G7.

And we will fulfil our ambitious commitment to reduce emissions by at least 68 per cent by the end of the decade.

Now, I know that some have feared Putin’s abhorrent war in Ukraine could distract from global efforts from tackling climate change.

But I believe it should catalyse them.

Climate security and energy security go hand in hand.

Putin’s contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels.

So we will make this country a clean energy superpower.

We will accelerate our transition to renewables which have already grown four-fold as a proportion of our electricity supply over the last decade.

We will invest in building new nuclear power stations for the first time since the 1990s.

And by committing £30 billion to support our green industrial revolution we will leverage up to £100 billion of private investment to support almost half a million high wage, high skilled green jobs.

Mr Speaker, there is also no solution to climate change without protecting and restoring nature.

So at COP27, the UK committed £90 million to the Congo Basin as part of £1.5 billion we are investing in protecting the world’s forests.

And I co-hosted the first meeting of our Forests and Climate Leaders’ partnership which will deliver on the historic commitment to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Now, central to all our efforts, is keeping our promises on climate finance.

So the UK is delivering on our commitment of £11.6 billion.

And to support the most vulnerable who are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change we will triple our funding on adaptation to reach £1.5 billion a year in 2025.

In Glasgow, the UK pioneered a new global approach using aid funding to unlock billions of pounds of private finance for new green infrastructure.

So I was delighted to join President Ramaphosa to mark the publication of his investment plan which delivers on this new model.

South Africa will benefit from cheaper, cleaner power cutting emissions while simultaneously creating new green jobs for his people.

And we will look to support other international partners in taking a similar approach.

We also made further commitments to support clean power in developing countries.

This included investing a further £65 million in commercialising innovative clean technologies and working with the private sector to deliver a raft of green investment projects in Kenya.

Now Mr Speaker, the Summit allowed me to meet many of my counterparts for the first time.

With the Egyptian President, I raised the case of the British-Egyptian citizen Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

And I know the whole House will share my deep concern about his case, which grows more urgent by the day.

And we will continue to press the Egyptian government to resolve the situation.

We want to see Alaa freed and reunited with his family as soon as possible.

With President Macron, we discussed our shared determination to crack down on criminal smuggling gangs.

And I also discussed illegal migration with other European leaders too.

We are all facing the same shared challenge – and we agreed to solve it together.

And finally, I had good first meetings with the new Prime Minister of Italy, the German Chancellor, the President of the EU, the President of Israel, and the leaders of UAE, Kenya and Norway, as well as the UN Secretary General.

In all of these discussions, the UK is acting with our friends to stand up for our values around the world and to deliver stability and security at home.

Tackling climate change and securing our energy independence is central to these objectives.

So even though we may now have handed over the Presidency of COP, the United Kingdom will proudly continue to lead the global effort to deliver net zero.

Because this is the way to ensure the security and prosperity of our country for today and for generations to come.

And I commend this statement to the House.

November 9, 2022
James Bevan – 2022 Speech on Adaptation and Net Zero

The speech made by Sir James Bevan, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, in London on 8 November 2022.

Introduction: reasons to be cheerful

These are dark times. So let me start with something radical: optimism. The biggest of all challenges we face is the climate emergency. If we fix that we can fix anything. And I’m here today to tell you that not only can we fix the climate emergency and build a better world, but that we will.

Now, the Environment Agency is an evidence-based organisation. And I try not to say things I don’t mean. So let me give you a couple of facts to underpin that upbeat assertion.

Fact one: it’s not rocket science. We know what the problem is: greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are warming the planet, changing the climate and producing higher seas and more extreme weather. We know what the stakes are if we don’t stop this: the survival of our species. And we know what the solution is: stop the emissions of the gases that are changing the climate and adapt our places, our infrastructure, our economy and our lifestyles so we can live safely and well in a climate-changed world. So: we know what we need to do. We just need to do it.

Fact two: we are starting to do it. If we are to beat the climate challenge we need several things to happen at once.

We need international cooperation. We cannot tackle the changing climate unless all the countries of the world work together, because the causes and consequences of climate change are global. And we are seeing that global cooperation, through the UN process that has set targets for all countries to meet and which will be taken further forward in Egypt later this month.

We need national action. Governments around the world are taking that action, including here, where successive UK governments have shown strong leadership. The 2008 Climate Change Act was the first time a major economy set legal limits to reduce its own emissions. In 2019 the UK became the first major economy to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by getting to Net Zero by 2050.

We need businesses to play a central role. That’s because economic activity – mostly private sector – is the source of most of the carbon that is changing our climate, and because most of the power, resources, knowledge and innovation needed to turn that around is in the private sector. And we are seeing businesses step up to the plate, partly because it’s the right thing to do but mostly because it’s the smart thing to do. Businesses which are part of the solution to the climate crisis will ultimately outperform and outlast those which are part of the problem.

And finally we need ordinary people, each of us in our daily lives, to change how we think and behave. And that is happening too. Around the world people are waking up to the reality of climate change, adapting how they live their own lives to help reduce its extent and impact, and – critically – demanding that their own governments take action. That is not just happening in developed countries: people in developing countries are even more badly affected by climate change than we are, and they are demanding change. And it’s not just happening in democracies like ours: authoritarian countries are also experiencing this popular demand. Dictators know that staying in power ultimately requires them to address the concerns of their own people.

So the second big fact is this: that the things that need to be true for us to tackle climate change successfully – international action, national government action, business action, popular action – are true. Does that mean that we will definitely succeed? No. But does that mean that we will succeed if we sustain this coalition, maintain this momentum, and build on it to go further and faster? Yes.

And we can and are doing that. Let me give you some examples from my own organisation, the Environment Agency.

Strategy

Organisations need to know what they are for. It’s the job of their leaders to define that and make sure the organisation does it. As they teach aspiring CEOs at Harvard Business School, the main thing is to make sure that the Main Thing really is the main thing.

And at the Environment Agency we have made tackling climate change the Main Thing, and put it at the heart of everything we do. Our current strategy – EA2025 – sets the organisation’s strategic goals. The first of those is making our nation resilient to climate change. We put tackling climate at the very top of the list because without it we know we won’t achieve our other strategic goals: healthy air, land and water; green growth and a sustainable future.

Action: Net zero/mitigation

We are taking action to reduce the pace and extent of climate change by reducing our own and others’ greenhouse gas emissions.

We regulate the carbon and other emissions of most industries, businesses and farms in this country. Since 2010 we have cut the emissions of greenhouse gases from the sites we regulate by 50%.

We administer the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which caps and will over time further reduce the emissions of heavy industry, aviation and other significant producers of greenhouse gases.

And we are trying to walk the walk ourselves with our own commitment to make the Environment Agency and our whole supply chain a Net Zero emitter. by 2030. In 2017/18 our carbon emissions totalled 32,450 tonnes, mostly from pumping water and pouring concrete to build flood defences. By the end of last year (2021/22) we had got that figure down to 20,485 tonnes, a cut of more than a third. Meanwhile we are offsetting more of our remaining emissions through tree planting and creating wetlands and new habitat.

Action: Adaptation/building back better

Everyone talks about net zero, and I just have. That’s important: the lower our carbon and other emissions, the lower the extent and rate of climate change. But climate change is already happening now and will keep on happening. Even if we stopped all emissions of greenhouse gases tonight, those that have occurred over the last two hundred or so years since the Industrial Revolution mean that the climate will still continue to change. Which is why the other side of the climate coin – adaptation to make us more resilient in a climate changed world – is just as important as the mitigation which Net Zero provides.

The EA is active here too. We build, own and operate most of the nation’s flood defences, including the Thames Barrier which is keeping us in this room safe right now. Those defences are helping us adapt to the changing climate and they work – over the last decade or so hundreds of thousands of people, homes and businesses in this country have been spared the trauma and loss of flooding because of our defences. We will keep on building and maintaining them, using natural flood risk management methods – tree planting, creating wetlands and storing water upstream to slow the flow downstream, etc – wherever we can.

And we play a major part in helping create better and more resilient places across the country through our statutory planning role, where we work with developers and local authorities to plan, design and deliver places which are not only better adapted to a changing climate but better places overall for people and wildlife to live.

As a species facing a climate changed world it’s not an exaggeration to say that we must adapt or die. But the point is not just to survive. If we adapt right we can thrive too. That’s because climate adaptation offers all of us, including every single business, a world of new opportunities. There are economic opportunities: to innovate and drive growth, and many companies are seizing those.

But the most exciting opportunity of all is the opportunity to create a better world: to build back better when flooding or drought damages homes and businesses; to create cleaner, greener cities which are more beautiful and better to live in than the ones we have now; to ensure that when it rains heavily our roads and railways don’t grind to a halt and our sewage systems don’t flush directly into rivers; to enhance nature at the same time as we lock up more carbon; and so on.

Conclusion

Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the nuclear bomb, said that “The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true”. I guess on that definition I’m neither an optimist or a pessimist. I’d like to think I am a realist. This is certainly not the best, nor the worst, of all possible worlds. But if we tackle the climate emergency effectively, and my pitch to you today is that we have started to do so, then I do think that we can and we will create the better world we all want.

November 8, 2022
Rishi Sunak – 2022 Statement at COP27

The statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Egypt on 7 November 2022.

When Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II addressed COP 26 last year,

she reflected how history has shown…

“…that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope.”

I believe we found room for hope in Glasgow.

With one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees,

….we made the promises to keep that goal within reach.

And the question today is this: can we summon the collective will to deliver them?

I believe we can.

When we began our COP Presidency, just one third of the global economy was signed up to net zero…

…today it’s 90 per cent.

And for our part, the UK…

…which was the first major economy in the world to legislate for net zero….

…will fulfil our ambitious commitment to reduce emissions by at least 68 per cent by 2030.

And because there is no solution to climate change without protecting and restoring nature …

In Glasgow, more than 140 countries which are home to over 90 per cent of the world’s forests…

… made a historic promise to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by the end of this decade.

And just this afternoon I co-hosted the first meeting of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership to ensure this is delivered.

Central to all our efforts, is honouring our promises on climate finance.

I know that for many, finances are tough right now.

The pandemic all but broke the global economy.

And before coming here today…

…I spent last week working on the difficult decisions needed to ensure confidence and economic stability in my own country.

But I can tell you today…

….that the United Kingdom is delivering on our commitment of £11.6 billion.

And as part of this – we will now triple our funding on adaptation to £1.5 billion by 2025.

Let me tell you why.

First, I profoundly believe it is the right thing to do.

Listen to Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados, as she describes the existential threat posed by the ravages of climate change.

Or look at the devastating floods in Pakistan…

…where the area underwater is the same size as the whole United Kingdom.

When you see 33 million people displaced…

…with disease rife and spreading through the water…

…you know it is morally right to honour our promises.

But it is also economically right too.

Climate security goes hand in hand with energy security.

Putin’s abhorrent war in Ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change.

They are a reason to act faster.

Because diversifying our energy supplies by investing in renewables…

…is precisely the way to insure ourselves against the risks of energy dependency.

It is also a fantastic source of new jobs and growth.

In Glasgow, we began an approach globally…

….using aid funding to unlock billions of pounds of private finance for the development of new green infrastructure.

So instead of developing countries being unfairly burdened with the carbon debt of richer nations and somehow expected to forgo that same path to growth,

….we are helping those countries deliver their own fast track to clean growth.

And the UK is making further commitments to support this today …

….including by investing £65 million in a range of green investment projects in Kenya and in Egypt.

I’d like to pay tribute to President Sisi for his leadership in bringing us all together…

….and to thank the UK’s President of COP26, Alok Sharma…

…for his inspiring work to deliver on the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact.

By honouring the promises we made in Glasgow….

….and by directing public and private finance towards the protection of our planet….

….we can turn our struggle against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth…

…and we can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future.

That’s a legacy we could be proud of.

So as we come together once again in common cause today,

there really is room for hope.

Together, let us fulfil it.

November 7, 2022
Justin Welby – 2022 Statement on COP27 (Archbishop of Canterbury)

The statement made by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on 5 November 2022.

As global leaders gather at COP27, the world holds its breath. A world which has this year suffered further catastrophic flooding, drought, heatwaves and storms. A world already in crisis. A world which knows that we are perilously near the point of no return.

I’ve seen this myself just recently in Australia, whose great wealth is no protection against the flooding in New South Wales. And if it can happen in one of the most prosperous parts of the world, how much more devastating in one of the poorest like South Sudan, where more flooding has led to food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition.

Living as one human family, I pray that we will hear clearly the voices of those suffering on the brutal front line of climate change and climate injustice. I pray that together we will listen to young people and Indigenous Peoples. At this COP, hosted in Africa, the perspectives from that continent must be heard.

The climate emergency is an existential global threat that requires a global response, with radical action, imagination and justice. Let us together see justice done, so that countries can access new and fair finance for the loss and damage caused by climate change.

It is imperative that we seek justice so that those nations with greatest responsibility will take the lead, achieving net-zero carbon emissions and supporting other countries in this transition.

God calls us to embrace justice. Christian scripture describes how we share in the ‘renewed creation of heaven and earth with justice’ (2 Peter 3:13). Let justice flow so that we see human lives and hope restored, and the life of the earth itself protected and renewed.

November 7, 2022
Jeremy Corbyn – 2022 Comments on COP27

The comments made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Independent MP for North Islington, on Twitter on 7 November 2022.

Humanity is at a tipping point.

#COP27 must achieve climate justice, support the poorest for loss and damage, and deliver systemic change on a global scale.

We are running out of time. Solidarity with climate activists and human rights defenders who cannot wait any longer.

November 7, 2022
Rishi Sunak – 2022 Comments on COP27

The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 7 November 2022.

When the world came together in Glasgow last year, nations agreed an historic roadmap for preventing catastrophic global warming. As I travel to COP27 in Egypt today, it is more important than ever that we deliver on those pledges.

Fighting climate change is not just a moral good – is it fundamental to our future prosperity and security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels.

We need to move further and faster to transition to renewable energy, and I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this global movement as a clean energy superpower.

November 7, 2022