Chris Stark

Chris Stark: Rishi Sunak has set us back, head of climate change watchdog says

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68863796

The full interview with Mr Stark will be broadcast tomorrow [today] on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg

Rishi Sunak has “set us back” on climate change and left the UK at risk of falling behind other countries, the head of a government watchdog has said.

Chris Stark, head of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), told the BBC the prime minister had “clearly not” prioritised the issue as much as his predecessors.

He accused Mr Sunak of sending the world a message that the UK is now “less ambitious” than it once was.

A government spokesperson said: “Our record on net zero speaks for itself.”

Mr Stark said the country had made enormous progress towards reaching the climate target of net zero by 2050 under Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

But Mr Sunak’s Downing Street had sent a message to the rest of the world that “the UK is less ambitious on climate than it once was, and that is extremely hard to recover”.

Reaching net zero means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases – such as carbon dioxide and methane – in the atmosphere. The government is bound to this target by law.

The CCC is a statutory body that gives independent advice to ministers and assesses progress on targets.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68863796

Continue ReadingChris Stark: Rishi Sunak has set us back, head of climate change watchdog says

UK ‘strikingly unprepared’ for impacts of climate crisis

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/uk-strikingly-unprepared-impacts-climate-crisis

Government’s official advisers point to ‘lost decade’ in efforts to protect lives and livelihoods

The UK is “strikingly unprepared” for the impacts of the climate crisis, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which said there had been a “lost decade” in efforts to adapt for the impacts of global heating.

The CCC, the government’s official climate adviser, said climate damages will inevitably intensify for decades to come. It has warned repeatedly of poor preparation in the past and said government action was now urgently needed to protect people and their homes and livelihoods.

The extreme heatwave in 2022, when temperatures surpassed 40C for the first time, was both an example and a warning, the CCC said. More than 3,000 people died early and 20% of hospital operations were cancelled at the peak of the heatwave, while rail lines buckled, wildfires raged and farmers struggled with drought. “It won’t be long before those kinds of very hot summers are a normal summer,” said Chris Stark, CCC chief executive.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/uk-strikingly-unprepared-impacts-climate-crisis

Continue ReadingUK ‘strikingly unprepared’ for impacts of climate crisis