Local Christian Aid campaigners met with Monmouth MP David Davies today (Wednesday 17 June) as part of the first mass lobby of the new parliament on the importance of tackling climate change.
Constituents from Abergavenny were among thousands of others who headed to Westminster to join the national rally in support of the Climate Coalition’s Speak Up For The Love Of... campaign.
They spoke to Mr Davies about the things they love and want to protect from climate change, as well as sharing their vision of a cleaner and greener planet.
Govilon resident Francis Buxton said it was important for him to travel to London to “bring home just how vital it is that our government takes decisive action on climate change.”
“We hear stories of women and children digging into sandy riverbeds in search of water in Ethiopia, of melting glaciers in Bolivia where water shortages are an acute reality and how nearly a fifth of Bangladesh will be submerged as sea levels rise if temperatures rise by two degrees by 2050,” he said.
“The UK has benefitted from being a leading industrialised nation, but the dark side of that is the impact we have had on the globe with our decades of carbon emissions.
“We shared with David Davies MP our love of this planet and its people and urged him to call for urgent, ambition action on climate change.”
This year is a “crucial” one in the battle against climate change, according to the Climate Coalition. In December, world leaders will gather in Paris to reach a fair international climate deal.
Mr Davies is a well-known climate change sceptic. He recently called on the government to be “very cautious” in the upcoming Paris negotiations and argued there is a “difference between healthy scepticism and denial” about global warming.
“I am always delighted to discuss climate change and I enjoyed meeting with Christian Aid campaigners. We may disagree but we can do so in a friendly way,” he said.
“My own view is that CO2 is not solely responsible for the small increase in average global temperatures. We should therefore be cautious about pursuing policies which increase energy bills for homeowners and businesses.
“It is a tragedy that over 2 billion people across the world have no access to electricity. If there’s a choice between overseas aid projects which give 200 people electricity from renewable energy or, for the same money, 1,000 people electricity from fossil fuels, then I believe we need to support energy generation from fossil fuels in order to raise living standards quickly.”
Mari McNeill, south Wales regional coordinator for Christian Aid, added: “As the first country to industrialise, Britain has a moral duty to lead the way in tackling climate change and is among the richest countries with the most capacity to do so.”