8 things we learnt from Ed Miliband’s statement on climate change
With the UK general election looming large on the horizon, the political parties are slowly making clear their stances on the key issues. Last weekend Ed Miliband named climate change as a big priority for the Labour Party.
Here are eight things we learned from his Observer article…
1. 2015 is a critical year for the world
The general election may be the biggest political event domestically, but 2015 could long be remembered as the year the world chose to act on climate change. The United Nations summit in Paris aims to reach an historic global agreement. But, a deal is far from certain.
Miliband says: “there is a real danger that this great chance to achieve action is going to slip by, without the world even noticing… [that would be] a disaster for our country and the world.”
2. The dirtiest emitters are cleaning up
China and the United States made a deal last December to slash the rate at which their greenhouse gas emissions are increasing. Members of the European Union have also agreed to cut emissions.
However, Miliband says countries need to be more ambitious: “Because even if agreement can be achieved [at the UN summit in Paris], it may not be enough to address the scale of the challenge we face.”
3. UK is not immune from climate change
Last year saw parts of the UK hit by ‘the Winter of Flooding’, which caused destruction and misery for those affected. The events have driven home the reality of a changing climate, with more people now believing climate change exists.
The floods may have also kept climate change on the political agenda: “As the floods in Britain showed last year, this is an issue of national — as well as global — security.”
4. Action now saves money later
Back in 2006, the government-commissioned Stern Review found that strong, early action on climate change outweighs the future costs associated with waiting until later to act.
Miliband is still championing that basic but important message: “The weaker the action now, the more rapid and costly the reductions will need to be later. I do not want to see Britain or any country having to adopt crisis measures to halt the slide into global catastrophe because we missed this critical opportunity now.”
5. We can make the world carbon neutral
Labour pledge: “A goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.” That means people currently in their 40s or younger could well see the world become carbon neutral in their lifetime.
6. John Prescott is a headbasher
Miliband named former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott as his new climate change advisor. Apparently, “there is no one better than John at bashing heads together to get a deal.” Given, Prescott’s track record, we’re not sure whether Miliband meant that literally or not.
Miliband also noted that Prescott was “one of the architects of the Kyoto protocol”. The Kyoto protocol was the world’s first climate change treaty and has now been in force for 10 years.
7. Millions of Brits can make a difference
Miliband hopes that millions of British people who care about climate change will hold governments and political leaders to account. “This moment of opportunity must not be missed,” he says.
8. Action on climate change is the best thing Miliband can do for his children
Climate change won’t just affect us, it will affect the generations that come after us. And Miliband says there is no greater thing we do for them than to safeguard the planet: “It is the single most important thing we can do for our children and our grandchildren.”
Challenges like #climatechange demand new ideas. Welcome to a different kind of future. Follow @climate_shift on Twitter.
