Climate change protest
AROUND 50 campaigners gathered in the town centre to spell out the dangers of climate change.
Councillors, trades unionists and other activists braved the bitter cold in a protest on Market Place on Saturday afternoon to listen to speeches about the environment, pollution and climate change.
The stark message on one placard said, ‘We have 12 years to limit climate catastrophe’ while another said, ‘All we want for Xmas is a safe climate for our children.’
Labour councillor Erin Hill, holding baby son Michael in a sling, said: “I have been a Labour councillor for five years and far too often it’s been really easy to think that there’s not much we can do and that we are at the whim of national and international governments ... and there is really not a lot we can do.
“But this Climate Emergency campaign is something concrete that we can do.”
She added: “It’s very easy sometimes to think about climate change as something that’s far too big for any of us to do anything about alone; certainly that has occurred to me in the past.
“But actually this is something that we can do and can make a real difference.”
Labour’s Clr Richard Murgatroyd said: “We are here to make a state- ment about declaring a Climate Emergency in Kirklees as part of a global movement to do something real about the threat of climate change.”
The protest was supported by other councillors including the Green’s Andrew Cooper.
The campaign is calling on Kirklees Council to adopt Climate Emergency Motion aimed at taking action to reduce carbon emissions in Kirklees.
In October the world’s leading climate scientists warned there is only 12 years for global warming to be kept to a minimum of 1.5°C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of floods, drought and poverty for millions of people.