I was more than happy to sign this pledge after it was brought to my attention by a number of concerned constituents. The climate crisis is real, and we are seeing its devastating effects with the Australian Bushfires.
This is only the beginning, we have seen an increase in the number of catastrophic weather events over the last few years as we see the impact that a rise in global temperatures have. Global warming means extreme weather events at either end of the spectrum, as much as we all wish Oldham could be sunnier and warmer for that little bit longer in the summer, dealing with the effects of the climate crisis elsewhere means its not worth it.
There will be cynics who argue that the UK won’t make a difference by doing this on there own, that we’re just a drop in the pond compared to the emissions pumped out by China, India, the US and a number of other countries. And in a way they’re right, this is a global issue and it will be a global struggle to combat it. But not doing anything because we won’t change things on our own is just not good enough, we can be global leaders, we can show the rest of the world that it is possible.
We don’t have long to deal with this issue before its effects become irreversible, by the end of this parliament in 2025 I hope we have made considerable progress on our journey to net zero carbon emissions. And I’ll do my bit in Parliament, as I’m sure my colleagues on the Labour benches will do too, to try and implement a strategy which reduces our reliance on fossil fuels to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be cheap and there will be plenty of hard decisions for us to make collectively along the way. But it’ll be worth it when we have a habitable and hospitable planet. At the end of the day that’s what it boils down to, the need to protect our planet and our environment for our children and their children.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 