The climate crisis is fundamentally a crisis of politics. We can therefore address it democratically, and build a post-carbon society of justice and prosperity.
But tinkering won’t suffice. Timidity is the path to deepening climate apartheid, where those least responsible for breakdown bear the brunt of change, both in the UK and globally. Tonight’s climate debate is therefore urgent and well-timed. With all the major parties bar the Conservative Party committed to decarbonising the UK significantly in advance of the net-zero 2050 legal target, one question likely to arise is the cost of decarbonisation: how much, over what time period, borne by who.
The answer? We can more than afford it, we cannot delay, and those with the broadest shoulders and most responsible for the crisis must pay. And crucially, inaction has a far higher price.
