Bristol and other cities are sounding the alarm on a climate emergency. Yesterday I asked the government to follow Bristol’s lead and take action on the climate, including banning fracking.

Climate change is increasingly urgent. Global CO2 levels continue to rise. And just yesterday, a new World Meterological Organisation report showed the effects of warming are becoming increasingly severe.

So I find the Tories’ support for fracking deeply troubling. It threatens to add more fossil fuels to be burnt at a time when we should be keeping them in the ground. Wind and solar power have effectively pushed UK emissions down over the last few decades. We should seize this success and go even further.

Scientific assessments show time is short. The current generation of politicians – my generation – must recognise we are living in a national and international climate emergency. Yesterday Labour declared a climate emergency, and we asked the government to join us. This urgency must influence every single policy, ensuring every decision is examined in light of climate change.

Over the last few weeks I have spoken to a lot of young people about climate change. They want us to stop these short-sighted efforts to find more fossil fuels. They want us to ban fracking, as France has. They want us to be the world leader that I know we can be.

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