Extreme weather used to be rare.  Not any more.  As heatwaves scorch Europe and wildfires rage in Greece, here in the UK the Met Office has confirmed June was the hottest on record.  In the Antarctic, sea ice levels have fallen to record lows.

This is the reality of the climate crisis and the consequences of a world warmed by “only” 1.2C.  Floods, fires, droughts, heatwaves, and toxic air become ever more frequent leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.  We don’t have the luxury of burying our heads in the sand.

Yet we face this challenge with a Prime Minister and Tory Party more intent on stoking climate culture wars than investing in the green industries of the future and shifting our economy away from fossil fuels.  The UK could and should be a net zero and clean air world leader, but  instead of stepping up, the Tories now want to ditch green measures and put us further away from reaching our climate goals.

This Tory failure is disastrous for our planet, our economy and for people who’re struggling.  

But the cost for inaction is so much greater and we’re already paying it.  By slashing onshore wind, failing to invest in renewables and scrapping energy efficiency programmes, 13 years of the Conservatives have left millions of people exposed to sky high energy bills and draughty homes.  The Office for Budget Responsibility tells us that the financial cost of acting now is much less than delaying.  That’s why Labour’s green prosperity plan would ramp up investment to £28 billion per year for tackling climate change, growing the green economy and creating hundreds of thousands of good, green jobs across the country, including here in Crawley.

We cannot afford to be the generation that knew what was coming but failed to act.  Locally, I believe that Crawley Borough Council also taking the step of joining the UK100 group of public authorities committed to achieving these results, will be an important step for us.  There’s still work to do on this, but I am still personally hopeful it can be done.

Cllr Michael Jones,

Leader, Crawley Borough Council