IT"S as if we’re at war and the Government is selling weapons to the enemy, writes Councillor Mark Topping.

What happens in an emergency? We drop everything and respond to the crisis.

If it’s a fire at home, or a car crash or medical emergency, we stop what you’re doing and dial 999.

If it’s a bigger event, like a flood or a wildfire, the response involves more people as the impacts are wider.

Covid was an extraordinary one. The Government stepped in. People were sent home. All kinds of things changed across society to meet the emergency.

And then there’s the climate and nature emergency. An emergency which threatens a catastrophic breakdown of the basic systems we need to survive on the planet. It’s hard to think of a bigger, more serious one.

We all know it’s an emergency. Local authorities and national governments around the world acknowledge it.

And the emergency response by this Government? Ummm…

Sure, they’ve done things – even made some quite significant steps in the right direction in terms of reducing carbon emissions – but nothing like on the scale or with the urgency that’s needed. Getting to net zero carbon emissions is clearly on the ‘To do’ list, but not the ‘Emergency’ one.

The Government’s own Climate Change Committee repeatedly warns not enough is being done.

We hear almost daily reports from meteorologists and scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that it’s all happening faster than expected.

The planet is warming faster, ice fields are melting faster, the climate is breaking down faster, species are disappearing faster than expected.

IPCC scientists always say there is still hope. There is a narrow, rapidly closing window, a last chance for governments to take the radical, courageous action necessary to avert long term disaster.

But unbelievably, instead of a massive programme to insulate our homes and help us switch to renewable energy, the UK Government has effectively banned onshore wind turbines, licensed a massive new oilfield, approved a new coal mine and delayed plans to phase out fossil fuel cars and domestic boilers.

What is it about the word ‘Emergency’ the Government doesn’t get?

It’s as if we’re at war and the Government is selling weapons to the enemy. “Don’t worry! We’re confident Artificial Intelligence might invent something great to retrospectively undo the climate chaos we’re unleashing on the world.”

What we need is a Government that’s capable of genuine ‘long-term thinking’ for the common good.

That’s thinking, not about how to get elected next year – but about the world we’re leaving to our children and grandchildren.