Express readers star in film on climate change
READERS today team up with Sir David Attenborough to urge the Government to lead the world in tackling climate change.
Retirement home manager Sue Peachey, postal worker Amy Holder and Afghan War veteran Marc Robson appear in a documentary about last year’s Climate Assembly UK. As three of its delegates, they were asked to help ministers find ways to address the climate crisis.
And after hearing from nearly 50 experts including Sir David, they committed to making the UK cleaner and greener in line with the Daily Express Green Britain Needs You campaign.
Sue, 56, from Bath, has already ditched her old car for an electric one. She said: “I didn’t really know about climate change before.
“But now I realise it’s one of the biggest issues this country will face. I’m supporting the Daily Express campaign because we need common-sense solutions. We
need more electric car charging points for a start.” All three feature in The People vs Climate Change, on BBC iPlayer from tomorrow.
At the Assembly, Sir David told more than 100 delegates that fighting climate change was of the “utmost importance”. He recalled the devastating impact on a coral reef off the coast of
northern Australia, one of his favourite places, saying: “It’s magical. There are 150 different creatures of all the colours you can imagine. I was blown away.
“Then I dived very close to where I had that first experience. Instead of all that richness and colour, it was white. The white was the whiteness of a cemetery.There was not a spark of life left and it went for miles.”
The BBC film follows Assembly members as they debated the crisis and how their recommendations prompted the Government to commit to reducing emissions by 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035. Last
autumn’s report said the path to net zero by 2050 “must be underpinned by education, choice, fairness and political consensus”.
Asthma
Amy, 27, from Sherburn, North Yorks, wants cleaner energy and air to help her 10-year-old son Bradley who has asthma.
It developed after they moved into a housing association home heated by coal three years ago.
She said: “It can’t be good breathing in coal dust. You can see it floating in the air. I want my son to
breathe clean air and enjoy a bright future. I’ve been looking into having a heat pump or solar panels, but who’s going to pay for them? We need the Government to help us.”
Marc, 47, wants to ensure a green revolution does not leave workers behind as the industrial decline did for his coal-miner grandfather.
The former Royal Marine, of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, said: “Our country has a chance to be a world leader while making sure that no communities are left behind. The Government needs to be bold.”
● The People Vs Climate Change is on BBC iPlayer from tomorrow.