Daniel Callaghan

What are the key environmental challenges that lie ahead, such as nature restoration, biodiversity loss, river pollution, active travel, climate change resilience, energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, sustainable agricultural methods, net zero targets, competing land uses (growing food, generating energy and protecting nature), public transport and funding mitigation and adaption – both in your constituency and more widely across the country?

We all know that climate change is an existential threat, impacting millions directly with wildfires, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, and billions more through declining food production and soaring energy bills.

But as someone who is in their early 30s and thinking about starting a family, it’s deeply personal. I seriously worry about what kind of world my children will go on to inherit.

Urgent action is needed now to achieve net zero and avert catastrophe. But the good news is that these things are entirely possible.

For four years I worked in the science policy team at the Royal Society where I was lucky enough to work closely with some of the UK’s leading climate scientists to develop credible policy solutions to tackling the climate crisis.

That, by the way, is one thing that first attracted me to the Lib Dems. Everything in our manifesto is rooted in solid, evidence-based policy which has been designed by expert working groups, tested, costed and debated before going into the document.

What became clear to me while working at the Royal Society was that the Conservative Government was catastrophically failing to act swiftly or ambitiously enough to deal with the most existential threat we face as a nation and as a planet.

The word ‘conserve’ is in their name, but the backward steps they have taken over the last few years is just another example of how we’re being shortchanged by a party that just does not care.

And let’s not forget Labour’s screeching U-turn over their own green investment plan.

At this election, the Lib Dems are proposing bold, urgent action to tackle climate change, reduce energy bills, and create secure, well-paid jobs.

By partnering with innovative British businesses, we will cut emissions to net zero by 2045, make the UK a global leader in clean technologies, and ensure ordinary households benefit from the transition to net zero. Our plan includes:

• A ten-year emergency upgrade programme to make homes warmer and cheaper to heat, starting with free insulation and heat pumps for low-income households, and ensuring all new homes are zero-carbon.

• Expanding incentives for households to install solar panels with a guaranteed fair price for electricity sold back into the grid.

• Investing in renewable power to achieve 90% of the UK’s electricity from renewables by 2030.

• Establishing a new Net Zero Delivery Authority to coordinate action across government and devolved administrations, with more powers and resources for local councils.

• Restoring the UK’s role as a global leader on climate change by returning international development spending to 0.7% of national income, with climate change as a key priority.

Together, we can tackle climate change, cut energy bills, and ensure a sustainable, prosperous future for all.

Source: Climate Action Stokesley and Villages