With the COP29, taking place from November 11 to 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan the spotlight is once again on governments and what they have done to as well as what they have not done in terms of climate change. Recent devastating and destructive floods in countries like Spain and Nepal have emphasised the need for action once again.

The UK has not been immune to the effects of climate change. For example, the UK Health Security Agency stated on their Heat mortality monitoring report: 2022 (Updated 22 July 2024), “During summer 2022, there were an estimated 2,985 (2,258 to 3,712) all-cause excess deaths associated with 5 heat episodes, the highest number in any given year”.

Do governments really care about stopping climate change? Or is it just a strategy to win votes?

Greta Thunberg. A name all are reminded of when thinking about climate change. She was a pertinent voice in the years of 2018-2021 on this issue. Many politicians acknowledged her during their speeches. An example of this is, during Boris Johnson’s speech at COP26, he referred to a line from her speech given at Milan Youth4Climate, where she called out all the empty promises that politicians have made. Johnson issued a swift rebuttal to this comment which expressed his passion and commitment to making changes as to how countries view/tackle climate change.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson did stay true to his word, introducing pledges, programmes and policies to reduce the effect of climate change. For instance, he made significant strides in ensuring the UK became a leader in offshore wind, with a goal of producing 40 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, which the nation has slowly been walking towards.

Climate change's impact has also been recognised in the recent UK General Election. The Labour manifesto talked about a green economy, investments in renewable energy, and commitments to reach net zero by 2030 and included detailed plans. On the other hand, the Conservative manifesto did not provide similar detailed commitments and instead listed existing initiatives. The Lib Dems and Green Party also highlighted the importance of transitioning to a green economy in their manifesto.

It can be argued that, Labour’s strong stance on climate may have helped them secure votes among the younger demographic. On page 52 of the ‘General Election 2024: Results and analysis’ (24 September 2024) it states that, “Constituencies with larger populations of 18-to-24-year-olds tended to have a higher proportion of votes for Labour. 16 of the top 20 constituencies with the largest populations of 18-to-24-year-olds were won by Labour.”

The report carries on by writing, “Four of the ‘youngest’ constituencies by this measure were won by other parties. The Green Party gained the Bristol Central seat from Labour and held Brighton Pavilion. Bath was held by the Liberal Democrats…”

Therefore, it cannot be confirmed nor can it be denied that a large number of the young population in the UK gave their votes to certain parties based on the party’s stance and engagement with specific social issues such as, climate change.

To conclude, if the world’s politicians continue to sweep the issue of climate change under the rug and mock the subject when it is brought up, the consequences of this ignorance will become worse, as history has shown us.

We will soon see if our government follows through with the promises they have made in their manifesto regarding climate change. The stances of other governments on this environmental issue will also be reflected when politicians address it once again in a few weeks at COP29. 

References:

UK Health Security Agency (2024) Heat mortality monitoring report 2022. 

Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-mortality-monitoring-reports/heat-mortality-monitoring-report-2022

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

(Accessed: 31.10.2024)

General election 2024: Results and analysis

Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10009/CBP-10009.pdf

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

(Accessed: 31.10.2024)