In a statement on Climate Change Day, the Green Party has sent a strong message of support to the Ask The Climate Question Coalition (1) - but has warned that politicians must start treating the threat from climate change as a top priority all year round.
The Coalition have called for all political parties to focus on climate change, but the Green Party wants this issue to outlast the election campaign by becoming a central priority for the next government.
A new government must develop clean energy and a low carbon economy. The Green Party says that not only is this possible, but that thousands of jobs can be created in the process. By introducing a radical programme of direct government investment, the following is achievable:
• Large-scale wind renewable generation and investment in the grid, which would see 80, 000 jobs in installation and equipment manufacture created.
• A 90% reduction in carbon equivalent emissions by 2030.
• Source half of our energy from renewable sources by 2020.
A Green Party spokesperson said: "The coalition hope that this day, all parties will place climate change at the centre of their agenda. Today, the Green Party will do this. We did it yesterday, and we'll do it tomorrow, too."
Climate change, say the Greens, is not just an isolated threat - it signals that business as usual will result in catastrophic environmental and social consequences. Greens say that it is clear from Copenhagen that mainstream governments have yet to grasp this. The Green Party have plans for a new economic and environmental settlement for the benefit of our planet and the people on it.
A party spokesperson concluded: "Ask the climate question coalition are right: no government can afford to ignore climate change. Token words setting out unambitious targets from the main parties will never be enough, only the Green Party has the courage, conviction and commitment to really make climate change the central question, not just of today, but of the future".
Notes
(1) http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/ask-the-climate-question