Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about climate change and the environment. I agree with you that the Government needs to keep the promises it has made on this issue.

The recent report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the starkest reminder so far that the climate crisis is both here now and the biggest long-term threat we face. At the same time, it makes clear that with strong and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions we can limit climate change and that we need urgent action this decade to have any chance of limiting warming to close to 1.5°C.

I therefore share your concern that, unfortunately, the Government is not meeting this situation with the speed and scale of action it demands. In June, for example, the Climate Change Committee reiterated that there remains a massive gap between the Government’s emissions reduction targets and the policies in place to achieve them. We have also seen several delays when it comes to a net zero strategy, the Treasury’s net zero review and the heat and buildings strategy. The biggest threat we face is no longer climate denial, but climate delay: acknowledging the problem but failing to act on it with the seriousness it deserves.

I am determined that, with COP26 approaching, the UK must show global leadership on this issue. I believe we should aim to achieve the substantial majority of our emissions reductions by 2030, make climate justice a priority, both in the UK and abroad, and take action to accelerate the benefits of nature restoration and recovery. That is why I have supported calls for a Green New Deal and bringing forward an ambitious stimulus package of capital investment to help support the creation of up to 400,000 new low-carbon jobs and decarbonise our economy at the same time. It is also why I agree that we need to hardwire our net zero targets into future fiscal events like the forthcoming spending review and why I have supported calls for a global footprint amendment to the Environment Bill.

With so much at stake, we cannot afford any more complacency, inaction and lack of direction when it comes to the climate emergency. I can therefore assure you that I will continue to do what I can to hold the Government to its climate promises.

Thank you once again for contacting me.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP