An open letter to political leaders calling for climate action

Dear Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg,

Dozens of Greenpeace volunteers scaled the walls of the Palace of Westminster yesterday and spent the night on the roof to welcome you back from your summer break. The threat of climate change is so grave that it requires radical action and we believe that what we are doing here today is necessary to send a clear message to the country's politicians. If we don't change the politics and take real action here and internationally we will lose our chance to save the climate.

You have a unique responsibility because you exercise political power at a time when humanity is faced with its greatest ever challenge. For leaders after you, it will be too late to act. It is our generation that must take charge and save our climate. And we can, but the clock is ticking.

The Copenhagen climate summit is just weeks away. The international negotiations are deadlocked and we're running out of time to get the global deal that we and the planet need. To make progress we need rich countries including the UK to show good faith. That means committing to higher emissions cuts and putting real money on the table to stop emissions from deforestation and for low carbon technology in developing countries in order to protect the world's poorest people from the impacts of climate change. So far bold action has been trumped by short term interests.

We need to change our politics if we're going to save the climate.

That's why Greenpeace has produced a manifesto listing 12 simple, effective steps that you could help Britain build a low-carbon economy, create green jobs and show real leadership in our response to climate change.

By engaging the big levers of the economy - private capital, taxation, public spending and industrial strategy - politicians can encourage green jobs and deliver sustainable economic recovery. Building a low-carbon economy is an investment in the UK's prosperity, innovation, industry and security. It will make the UK competitive in a low-carbon world. Most importantly of all, it will enable this country to play its part in tackling climate change.

The Committee on Climate Change has called for a step change in the UK's efforts to reduce emissions. A few days ago the electricity regulator Ofgem released a study showing that the best way to secure Britain's energy future while minimizing price rises for consumers is to invest in renewables and energy efficiency. The solutions to the economic crisis and the climate crisis are the same.

To step up to the challenge of climate change we need politicians that look to the next generation not just the next election. It's time to set aside short term party politics and tackle the really big issues. We need politicians with long term vision. I hope you can be the politicians of that calibre that we so desperately need.

Yours sincerely,
John Sauven
Executive Director
Greenpeace UK