Greens back call for COP reform

Reacting to calls for the COP process to be reformed (1), Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP said: 

“This is a timely call for reform of an international forum that has achieved a great deal but now needs to drive action in the face of the dire climate crisis the world faces. 

“COP has brought the world together and succeeded in putting scientific evidence at the heart of policy making. 

“It has set out the scale of the crisis the world faces and has agreed, in principle, that those countries which have caused the crisis should be funding the loss and damage experienced by those who are bearing its costs. 

“In addition, the international agreement to phase out fossil fuels is vital and urgent. 

“However, the crucial next phase of making change happen is being derailed by the fossil fuel lobby and complicit nation states. 

“The election of a climate change denier as US President whose election call was ‘drill, baby, drill’, underlines the need to reform the COP process. 

“We need to move urgently to a new phase of implementation, where COP becomes the forum to hold governments to account and push forward a change agenda, including supporting countries to adapt to the impacts of the crisis already being felt. 

“To achieve this, we must exclude the fossil fuel companies and their lobbying arms and strengthen the representation of those countries and indigenous peoples most impacted by climate change. 

“COP has succeeded in highlighting the need for urgent change and has laid the foundations for achieving that, but it must now reform and refocus on making change happen.” 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

  1. https://www.clubofrome.org/cop-reform-2024/

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Green MPs write to David Lammy to clarify Government position on risk of genocide in Gaza

The four Green MPs yesterday wrote to the Foreign Secretary to clarify the Government’s position on the risk of genocide in Gaza.

Ellie Chowns said:

“The UK has an obligation to prevent genocide under international law. We know the Government has not described the Israeli government’s assault on Palestinians in Gaza as a genocide – the Prime Minister keeps telling us. But has it actually assessed the risk? And what will it take for the Government to recognise that obligation and act on it to prevent genocide? The Green MPs have written to David Lammy to get answers.

“The humanitarian and human rights situation in Gaza is dire. Israel’s government has cut off aid in Northern Gaza, and is now forcibly displacing the population from the North. The huge numbers of civilian deaths and the prospect of widespread starvation are intolerable.

“The Government must recognise that its approach has failed. It must take seriously the risk of genocide. And it must consider far more direct measures to incentivise a ceasefire including an end to arms sales, the introduction of divestments, boycotts and sanctions, prosecutions for all those who have committed war crimes and a plan for a viable Palestinian state.”

NOTES

Full text of the letter: https://elliechowns.org.uk/2024/11/13/letter-to-the-foreign-secretary/


by Paul Corry

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Green Party responds to Reeves’ mega pension plans

Responding to briefings on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House speech on pension funds reform, Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay MP said: 

“Chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to quickly set out the details of her headline-grabbing plans to create mega-pension funds to ensure that they provide the investment we need to urgently transition our economy beyond fossil fuels, as well as offering members who rely on them full financial, environmental and ethical protections. 

“The legal changes being proposed are aimed at freeing up billions to invest in infrastructure. We need to ensure that this is directed towards the climate-resilient infrastructure we so urgently need, particularly renewable energy, the national grid, the electrification of our railways and nature restoration. 

“Many local authority pension schemes have developed sophisticated ethical policies aimed at protecting members’ money from being invested in environmentally harmful industries. The new megafunds must enshrine these existing policies as minimum standards. 

“If and when different schemes are brought together, legislation must ensure that merged schemes deliver stronger environmental and other ethical protections and are not dragged down into investments in climate-damaging infrastructure such as airport expansions or fossil fuel companies’ greenwashing schemes. 

“We will also be looking for security for all the pensioners who rely on these funds. We must remember that pension funds are essentially made up of people’s hard-earned wages deferred to retirement. We cannot afford to have a handful of so-called mega-funds that increase risks.” 


by Paul Corry

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Green reaction to government’s 81% emissions reduction target

Reacting to Keir Starmer’s public address at COP29 where he announced a new climate target for the UK to reduce the country’s emissions by 81% by 2035 against 1990 levels, Green MP Ellie Chowns said: 

“The announcement of an 81% cut in emissions by 2035 is welcome – we need to remove fossil fuels from our economy as rapidly as possible.  

“However, the transition to clean energy needs to be matched by moves on energy reduction. We need a mass home insulation programme and large-scale investment in public transport and active travel. Instead, we have seen Labour downgrade the retrofitting of homes, fail to make solar panels on new builds mandatory, hike bus fares by 50% and offer only loose change for walking and cycling.  

“Keir Starmer says he will not tell people how to live their lives, but he can put in place policies to support us to make changes that reduce emissions, cut bills and improve our health and wellbeing. This must involve every government department being laser focused on achieving our climate targets.” 


/ by Andrew Bell

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Greens call on Starmer to lead international action at COP29 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP urged world leaders to attend COP29 next week to underline its critical importance: 

“COP29 has set itself the goal of “deep, rapid and sustained emission reductions now to keep temperatures under control and stay below 1.5˚C, while leaving no one behind’.  

“But it won’t achieve that without the international leadership needed from Heads of State, Presidents and Prime Ministers.  

“I welcome the fact that Sir Keir Starmer will attend. The UK has the opportunity and responsibility as the first industrial nation on Earth to provide the leadership for a just transition. 

“We need the Prime Minister to show leadership on the world stage, by ensuring COP29 commits to: 

  • Urgently transition away from fossil fuels 
  • Provide the equitable and just finance promised for adaptation and mitigation, and to fund the loss and damage many are already experiencing as a result of climate impacts 

“Unfinanced is unprepared and we are both.  

“Of course, these are incredibly difficult times internationally, with the European Union stalling on its actions and President-elect Trump, a climate crisis denier, once again stalking the world stage. 

“But that is why it is so important that the UK steps forward to remind the world what is at stake if co-ordinated international action does not take place now. 

“New scientific evidence shows global average temperatures are on track this year to end up more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, making 2024 the first calendar year to breach this crucial target.  (1)l 

“We need international leadership now more than ever to tackle the climate crisis. We are getting leadership from the scientists, but too many of the world’s political leaders are ducking their responsibility.” 

Among national leaders not attending the UN conference in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11- 22 November are those from the US, China, France, Brazil, South Africa, Japan and Australia, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

(1) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dpnxnvv2go 

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