Insulation specialist Actis has backed a call by more than 400 climate scientists for UK political parties to commit to climate action.
With the General Election just a week away, academics have called for five actions to help address climate change, including accelerating moves to help the UK adapt to rising temperatures.
Its authors add that if a party leader does not make addressing climate change a priority they “will place the prosperity and well-being of the British people at severe risk” and will not deserve the support of the electorate.
Among the signatories is former government chief scientific adviser Prof Sir David King who played a pivotal role in getting the Climate Change Act over the line in 2008.
The open letter asks the political parties to:
- Publish and implement a credible and legal strategy for ending the UK’s contribution
to climate change by meeting the UK’s statutory Carbon Budgets and its target of net
zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. - Accelerate action across all sectors and all parts of the UK to adapt and become more
resilient to those impacts of climate change that cannot now be avoided, in line with
UK Climate Change Risk Assessments. - Respect and act on all the advice of the expert independent Climate Change
Committee, including its warning in its most recent Progress Report that “the UK will
continue to need some oil and gas until it reaches Net Zero, but this does not in itself
justify the development of new North Sea fields”. - Lead by example internationally on climate change, including through the
implementation of the decision at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023, and the
commitment to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just,
orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to
achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science”. - Increase public and private funding and support for climate change mitigation and
adaptation in developing countries.
Addressing the effects of climate change is an issue close to Actis’ heart, with UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper explaining: “Under Part O of the building regulations, architects are obliged to limit unwanted solar gains and provide a way to remove heat from residential dwellings. Buildings insulated with certain types of insulation can make hot summers unbearable for the occupants.”
