Only 60 of 650 UK MPs will attend climate crisis briefing

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Jul 2022 15:14
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A climate crisis briefing, conducted by the chief scientific adviser, was set up for UK MPs to "equip them with the knowledge," but only 60 of them signed up for it.

UK Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance (AFP)

Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, is set to give parliament, on Monday at 3:30 pm, an emergency climate change briefing, but only 60 out of the 650 UK MPs are due to attend. The briefing is based on the slides that were presented to UK prime Minister Boris Johnson prior to Glasgow’s UN climate summit, COP26, that took place back in November of 2021.

An all-party parliamentary group (APG) organized the briefing which will include the updated numbers and information of the same briefing given to Johnson prior to November 2021. The slides demonstrate the most recent findings in climate science, including the recent rises in global mean temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations, and despite that the APG said that less than 10% of MPs had signed up to watch.

A 37-day hunger strike staged by climate activist Angus Rose calling for the briefing to be shared with all MPs is what drove the APG to share this information with the 650 members. An open letter, supported by 79 of the UK’s leading climate scientists, stated that a climate briefing similar to those held for the Covid-19 pandemic will be useful to MPs to better understand climate change reasons and solutions for containment.

The briefing is today!
How many of the conservative leadership candidates will attend the UK's first ever high-level science briefing?@RishiSunak @NadhimZahawi @PennyMordaunt @TrussLiz @GrantShapps @Jeremy_Hunt @SajidJavid @SuellaBraverman and others#ScienceBriefing pic.twitter.com/whvYKeYk8s
— Angus Rose (@Angus_Climate) July 11, 2022

The briefing is set to include the impacts of the climate emergency on both health and the environment and focus on the information that is relevant to UK citizens. It will also take into account the most recent IPCC reports, which warned that “We are at a crossroads. The decisions we make now can secure a livable future. We have the tools and know-how required to limit warming.”

In 1990, the #IPCC released its first #ClimateReport concluding that human-caused #climatechange would soon become evident.

IPCC's latest reports show overwhelming evidence that human activities are the principal cause of climate change.

➡️ https://t.co/4rtf44SVnF pic.twitter.com/y6CHBNOlCh
— IPCC (@IPCC_CH) July 8, 2022

The MPs there, according to scientists and politicians, should be inspired to call for more immediate action to address the climate catastrophe.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP who runs the APG, urged her colleagues to attend.

“It’s three years since parliament declared a climate emergency, yet ministers are still not heeding the scientists’ dire warnings about the climate emergency, and MPs are still not all fully informed about the latest climate science,” adding “It’s therefore hugely welcome that the government’s chief scientific adviser and a panel of climate scientists are going to brief MPs and peers, and answer their questions, in large part thanks to the actions of Angus Rose,” Lucas argued.

More importantly, the MP said that she would like MPs to attend and further “equip themselves with the knowledge” as the future of the world is in their hands, and it all comes down to the policies they put forward.