We must act quickly to reduce fossil fuels

I’M writing as a resident of Kingsbridge and a deeply concerned mother of two young people whose stable futures are now increasingly in jeopardy.

The latest IPCC report was released on Monday – it tells us what we as a species have to do if we are to have a planet that we can live on. It makes it clear we need to act on reducing fossil fuels right now and we need to act fast. The UN Secretary General has been quite clear: there is no justification for new investment in fossil fuel extraction. Renewable energy is cheaper energy and in fact is the key to our very survival. Landbased renewables are the cheapest of all and quickest to deploy. Renewables in conjunction with battery storage and energy saving is how we get prices down from expensive, climate-busting gas.

In the short term, a windfall tax can stop consumers ending up in poverty, but instead we continue filling the already plump pockets of oil companies. It’s mind-boggling, irresponsible and quite simply a dreadful choice from our leaders.

The report makes it clear that saying that, because of the dreadful situation in Ukraine, we should be fracking and drilling is just madness. The economic argument for renewables would be even more compelling if we added the cost of carbon capture to all new fossil fuel sources, where it belongs.

So why are we still, even now, subsidising the fossil fuels which are increasingly making our present and our future un-liveable? This report is crucial but I have to ask: which of our leaders are brave enough to act on its urgent call for change?

Shelley Castle Kingsbridge, Devon