The Medway Labour and Co-operative Group welcomes the start of COP26 in Glasgow. COP26 will be the United Nation’s 26th conference aimed specifically at addressing climate change.

Under the ‘ratchet mechanism’, this Conference is the first since the Paris Agreement in 2015 where all parties are obliged to collectively increase their commitments related to protecting our planet.

Cllr Simon Curry, Medway Labour and Co-operative Group’s Spokesperson for Regeneration, Culture and the Environment said:

“Climate change presents a threat to us both globally and locally. Globally, increased temperatures will cause ecological disasters that adversely impact the stability of international affairs, and even threaten the future of humanity. That being said, the problems are not just hypothetical situations in the future, they are impacting us right now.

“Here in Medway, we suffer every day because of worrying levels of air pollution. In my constituency Luton and Wayfield, children from Luton Primary School are out playing every day in a part of our area that unfortunately has dire air quality. This is no trivial issue as air pollution is responsible for devastating health outcomes, including playing a role in millions of deaths globally every year.

“We therefore welcome the fact that international leaders are meeting to discuss taking further collective action on this issue and are hoping to see positive results in the coming week.”