Boris Johnson must urgently commit the UK to a green economic recovery action plan to lead the world and turn the tide on climate change, a coalition of leading charities has warned in a letter to the Prime Minister today.
The letter from The Climate Coalition and co-signed by 57 charities, including WWF, CAFOD, Oxfam and The Women’s Institute, is backed up by an action plan which all the UK’s major charities working on climate change have united behind.
The degradation of the natural world is both increasing pandemic risk and driving climate change, which poses an even greater threat to human security and economic prosperity going forward. The charities call on Boris Johnson to implement a green and just recovery as the only way to build economic resilience.
The letter says that “the actions taken now to respond to the pandemic and rebuild our economies will determine whether humanity succeeds in our goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, halt and reverse the decline of nature and eradicate poverty”.
The group is calling on the government to implement their seven-point “plan for a green, fair and healthy recovery” to turn the tide on climate change, support the most vulnerable and boost future-proof jobs and industries.
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said:
“We know a green recovery makes economic sense and is supported here in the UK and overseas by leading businesses, academics, ministers, and health representatives. What we urgently need to see now, and post-pandemic, is commitment from Government on turning this into action.
“Investing in a green recovery could support at least 210,000 green jobs across the country and bring benefits of a massive £90 billion a year to the UK economy. The government must adopt a test to ensure any recovery package helps to build economic resilience and meet our commitments to end the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050.”
Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, said:
“The stakes are high in how we choose to build back from Covid-19 – the government cannot afford to miss this unique opportunity to tackle the injustice of poverty and fairly transition to a greener economy. The UK should lead the way by doing everything it can to help build a global recovery that delivers for the poorest people. That means galvanising more aid for vulnerable communities bearing the brunt of climate change and championing debt relief so developing countries can protect their people from hunger and disease both now and in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
Next year the UK will take centre stage as it hosts the UN Climate Summit, COP26, to deliver a strong global lead on climate action. The best way to show this leadership is to put resilience at the heart of our economic recovery by accelerating the transition to net-zero, restoring nature and supporting the most vulnerable at home and overseas.
