21 November 2022
- “After one of the most consequential global climate summits in a generation, all our Prime Minister could muster was a 33-word tweet”
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, has been granted an Urgent Question on the COP27 outcome, taking place in the House of Commons this afternoon at around 15:30. Her statement is below:
“At the conclusion of one of the most consequential global climate summits in a generation, all our Prime Minister could muster was a 33-word tweet.
“This frankly pathetic statement is just the latest piece of evidence that our Prime Minister utterly lacks the climate leadership our country, and planet, desperately needs. From a screeching u-turn on showing up to COP27 in the first place, to failing to rule out a disastrous new coal mine in Cumbria, to gifting fossil fuel companies a gigantic tax loophole for climate-wrecking oil & gas investment – these are not the actions of a climate leader.
“So when the COP26 President Alok Sharma so powerfully stated that 1.5C is “on life support”, can the Government explain in detail its reaction to the summit? Does it agree that the final agreement’s absence of action to peak emissions before 2025, and a clear commitment to phase out all fossil fuels, shows pitiful progress? And if so, why is this Government ploughing ahead with a swathe of new oil & gas licences?
“And when Ministers were “concerned” about the unjust imprisonment of British citizen Alaa Abd el-Fattah, and the Prime Minister “raised the case” with his Egyptian counterpart, why are his family still being forced to seek answers and action? Alaa has faced intimidation, and has suffered fainting fits and mental breakdowns – yet the Government is standing idly by.
“Our planet is staring climate catastrophe in the face. While the loss and damage fund agreed at COP27 is a welcome victory for climate justice, the only way we can maintain a liveable planet for all is to keep fossil fuels in the ground for good. A woefully brief Twitter statement simply won’t wash.”
ENDS
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