Advertisement
Christmas Special - Get your first 12 issues for just £12
SUBSCRIBE
Environment

PM must follow Biden’s lead on climate to stop ‘the gravest injustices'

The new President's quick action on the climate crisis presents "true hope", the Environmental Justice Foundation said

Boris Johnson must follow President Biden's example on the climate crisis, activists said

Boris Johnson must match President Joe Biden’s “political will” to take bold action on the climate crisis, experts have said.

Biden’s commitment to protect at least 30 per cent of US land and ocean areas by 2030 is a source of “true hope”, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

“This action is essential to reversing nature’s decline, fighting climate breakdown and protecting millions of people around the world,” EJF executive director Steve Trent said.

“It is vital that the UK Government match this commitment ahead of hosting COP 26 in November this year.”

Biden ordered a stop to most oil and gas drilling on public land, which counts for nearly a quarter of all US greenhouse gas emissions, as well as recommitting to the Paris Agreement.

The US Government’s fleet of vehicles will change to all-electric and Biden promised to prioritise environmental justice. He pledged to protect Black and brown communities from global warming through new funding and policies.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription

“We desperately need a unified national response to the climate crisis,” Biden said. The US cannot take effective action alone, he added.

According to the Paris Agreement, global heating must be kept to no hotter than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures if there is to be hope of halting the climate crisis.

The UK must be carbon neutral by 2042 to have even a 50 per cent chance of doing this, but is currently not on track to meet its own target of net zero by 2050.

The EJF called on the public to pressure politicians into taking the radical action needed to cut emissions urgently.

“By working together as a global community we can still avert the most damning impacts of biodiversity loss and global heating, halt the gravest injustices and the worst violence. But we must act now,” Trent added.

“The way is clear, but our leaders must show true political will and lead – demand that they do so.”

Ministers came under fire for undermining climate targets by approving plans for the first new coal mine in 30 years.

Paul Miner, head of planning at countryside charity CPRE, said all coal mines should be refused under current policy. He said the decision on the West Cumbria project “beggared belief”.

“Not only does coal mining scar the landscape and cause pollution, it further fuels climate and ecological breakdown,” Miner added.

“If the UK is to host COP26 while simultaneously approving coal extraction, we risk becoming an international laughing stock.”

The Prime Minister previously pledged to work closely with Biden’s administration to “do all we can to safeguard our planet”.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Where has all the fog gone?
Nature

Where has all the fog gone?

'We're not diesel monsters': Meet the London cabbies going electric to help fight climate change
Climate change

'We're not diesel monsters': Meet the London cabbies going electric to help fight climate change

Water companies' £158m fine over sewage pollution prompts fresh calls for nationalisation
A dripping tap against dappled sunlight
Sewage pollution

Water companies' £158m fine over sewage pollution prompts fresh calls for nationalisation

Sewage pollution levels in this river are 100 times safe 'limits'. The fight is now on to clean it up
Sewage pollution

Sewage pollution levels in this river are 100 times safe 'limits'. The fight is now on to clean it up

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know