Christmas elves unveil climate wish-list

Elves Josh and Libby unveil CAFOD wishlist

Source: CAFOD

A petition to the new government from thousands of Catholics has been unveiled by Christmas elves outside Parliament.

The petition, signed by 34,620 CAFOD supporters, calls for the new government to urgently put policies in place to tackle the climate crisis and keep temperature rises below the dangerous level of 1.5 degrees.

The government must implement measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 'net zero' and ensure overseas investments are in line with global climate targets, according to the petition.

The charity is also urging the government to show "strong international leadership" ahead of the UN 'COP26' climate conference in 2020, which will be held in Glasgow in November.

Sarah Croft, Campaigns Manager at CAFOD, said: "We shouldn't expect next year's talks in Glasgow to be a magic bullet which will 'solve' climate change, but they will give the UK the opportunity to lead the world and show how we can put the steps in place to protect our common home.

"This petition is yet more evidence of the calls from people up and down our country for the government to get our house in order and play our part in protecting people who are already bearing the brunt of the climate emergency.

"The success of next year's COP will also depend on whether the voices from vulnerable communities are heard and listened to."

The petition was presented outside Parliament the day after the UN climate talks in Madrid ended with complaints that governments have not shown enough ambition in their commitments to tackle the climate crisis.

The talks, which overran by two days, saw countries formally recognise the need to set more ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions ahead of COP26 in 2020.

Observers expressed disappointment that decisions on the final rules underpinning the Paris Agreement - a landmark agreement on tackling climate change which was agreed by all nations in 2015 - were postponed until next November.

Brazil, the US and Australia were amongst a group of countries accused by others of blocking progress in negotiations.

Call on the government to tackle the climate crisis at cafod.org.uk/climate