DEMO FRIDAY EVENING: 'Trump wrecking global climate action' US Embassy 6pm

From Climate Defence

Date: THIS FRIDAY, 18th November
Time: 6:00pm
Location: US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London, W1A 2LQ. Map HERE

As the UN COP22 climate talks in Marrakesh draw to a close, a new dawn for climate policy is breaking with the election of Donald Trump as the President of the USA.

Environmental campaigners' worst fears look to be justified, as Presdent-elect Trump has already announced the appointment of Myron Ebell, a prominent climate change denier with strong links to the fossil fuel industry, as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Earlier this week, the World Meteorological Organization predicted that 2016 is almost certainly going to be the hottest year on record, surpassing last year's record. Trump has called climate change a "hoax". The disconnect between the climate crisis and those holding power has never been starker. Now only the most wildly optimistic have any hope that the world won't pass 2°C.

This time last year the world's leaders came together in Paris to agree the historic Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit the increase in temperature to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. It came into earlier at the beginning of the month. America is responsible for almost 20% of global carbon emissions and is the world's highest per capita polluter.

Trump has made it clear that he wants to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and his staff are already looking for ways to do so. There are real fears that this could pave the way for similar moves from other countries looking for a way to appease those with vested interests.

So, join us outside the American Embassy in Mayfair at 6pm on Friday to send a clear message: Trump's climate policies are nothing short of genocidal and will seal the fate of the millions, if not billions of people who are set to lose their lives as the planet warms irreversibly.

Please join and share our Facebook event with all the latest information:
https://www.facebook.com/events/333429317036859

After Paris Agreement ratified by EU bloc, Green MEPs call for united pressure on the UK government

EU Environment Ministers met today  in Brussels and  announced  that the bloc has agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The UK’s Green MEPs have welcomed the news and are calling on the UK government to now ratify the agreement without delay. The European Parliament is expected to seal the decision in a vote next week. The EU’s ratification must be followed by individual agreement from all member countries.

Jean Lambert, MEP for London, said:

Its good news that all 28 EU member states have agreed to make this move and help the global agreement on climate change enter into force. The timing is important – China and the US are already on board and India says it will sign up this weekend, so the EU’s decision comes not a moment too soon if it is still to be seen as an active force on this vital issue.

With 2016 virtually guaranteed to be the hottest year on record, and new warnings from scientists about the scale of the climate challenge, the action required to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target in the Paris agreement cannot be underestimated. There is no time to lose. UK taxpayers’ money needs to stop propping up fossil fuel suppliers with eye-watering subsidies and go instead to a clean energy transition and the green jobs that come with it.

Molly Scott Cato, MEP for the South West, and Green Party’s spokesperson on EU relations, said:

The EU has been crucial for the fight against dangerous climate change and has set targets which prevented our government from totally crushing the renewable energy sector. But as we prepare to leave the EU it is a worrying fact that many of those who campaigned to leave and are now steering our course and are deeply sceptical about climate change and not remotely interested in pushing for a renewable energy transition.

So it is critical at this time that climate campaigners, those from the renewable energy sector, progressive politicians; indeed, anyone who cares about a safe and secure future, work together. We need to pile pressure on the government to sign the Paris Agreement without further delay, to stay within the single market which will protect the most important climate and energy targets, and to bring about the transition that will make climate stability a reality.

Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East, and member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, said:

Again, the UK is set to follow where the EU leads, with Theresa May announcing her intention to ratify the Paris Agreement ‘sometime before 2017’. Such a loose and lackadaisical commitment demonstrates a failure to understand the importance of the agreement and suggests little intention of honouring it.

With no indication from the government that it intends to drop plans to continue fast-tracking fracking and oil and gas drilling, or reject the ‘airport capacity crisis’ myth and say no to expansion at Gatwick and Heathrow, ratification is empty symbolism. Theresa May can sponsor the development of new fossil fuel reserves and encourage expansion of an aviation industry that already emits more CO2 than 129 countries. Or the Prime Minister can make a genuine commitment to meeting the climate objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. She cannot do both.