There is very clearly a Climate Crisis that we must tackle. As such I am supporting extra measures in parliament and expect that the Government immediately considers the following courses of action;

• Phase out of petrol & diesel engines for electric by 2030.
• Subsidise the construction of car-charging points.
• Invest £5 billion into a programme that will replant northern forests.
• Aim to make renewable energy 100% by 2025.

The government has already made many commitments with a 30% rise in DEFRA budget however more needs to be done fast. I will work with the Foreign Secretary to secure greater European commitment and a change in global direction. We have a chance to save the planet, lets not waste it.

Whilst I'm sure the Government will ignore this issue as they have ignored every other issue since the Scottish Referendum I have to say that I am in the rare position of agreeing, at least in principle, with Labour backbenchers such as Anthony Wilson. The UK Government has to take action domestically and internationally to tackle climate change and make sure that the planet lasts long enough for us to hand it over to our children.

Domestically the Government has got to pick and choose its investments. Labour backbenchers have coalesced around the idea of banning numerous sources of power, this is neither feasible nor desirable. Banning petrol and diesel by 2030 will solve nothing, making electric cars so much cheaper than they are now so that they can compete with oil driven cars will enable the market to solve our problems without the heavy handed approach that government would inevitable take. Having 100% renewable energy by 2025 is not only completely impossible but it would ban all sorts of non-renewable but clean and highly efficient forms of energy such as nuclear power. If we want to phase out fossil fuels by 2025 we will need non-renewable energy such as nuclear power which is why the Conservative Party led the way in developing the Hinkley Point Project, this should be one of the primary focuses of any government-led efforts to end fossil fuels.

We can do all of this domestically but at the end of the day the UK accounts for maybe 1% of all fossil fuel output, the remaining 99% comes from overseas. We cannot close our borders to pollution, sea levels, and climate change so we must work across borders to ensure that climate change is stopped. To this end we should fundamentally re-evaluate our place in the World. We must use the resources of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Services to build international consensus around a globally binding set of targets to reduce emissions. Beyond that we should re-evaluate our foreign aid budget and focus it much more on green development and local business across the planet giving entire continents such as Africa the chance to develop into modern technological nations without having to resort to dirty energy such as coal and oil, this will only happen if we help them financially and technologically which is precisely the sort of thing our foreign aid budget should be all about.

Our planet is in danger of not being here for very much longer, it will only be through the sustained impetous of a government willing to lead on the domestic and global stage that we will be able to save it. The Conservative Party have a fully fleshed out plan to save our environment where Labour have a handful of backbenchers, this issue needs leadership which we can and will provide.

As Transport Secretary, I early on sent letters to the major cities of our nation to invest in low emission zones. It is imperative that we not just do the great big things, but also the consistent say to day things. It is also important that we work with our international allies in order to work together to address climate change. Something this government is committed to. 

Whilst any action that we take in order to combat pollution, we have to make it clear that this is not just an issue within Britain. It is not an issue that we are soley responsible for, therefore it is not an issue that we can deal with on our own. We must work at this with other nations. We could become the most eco-friendly nation on this earth - if other nations are not playing their part, then any hard work we do will go down the drain for the planet in which we live on will still be effected.

Climate change is one of my ministerial priorities and it is an issue near and dear to my heart. We must ensure we leave a sustainable world behind, ensuring future generations can benefit from the stable climate and the precious natural capital that we take for granted, and treat biodiversity and environmental conservation as ends in and of themselves. One of the first acts we took in government - a manifesto pledge that we delivered on - was reestablishing a Cabinet-level department with explicit responsibility over climate change policy. Since then, we have been working on cross-departmental solutions to this problem, and we are aware of the need to decarbonise vast swathes of our economy and develop global solutions.

I am proud of the record that this government has so far taken on climate change. We have made the first steps for a bold transition towards a greener economy, and these will pay off. In the first budget, we took substantial steps in shifting the tax burden towards taxing pollutants and emissions, improving air quality and tackling climate change by increasing greenhouse gas taxes and removing fossil fuel subsidies and tax loopholes that distorted the energy mix. We increased the taxes on landfill use, too, as part of our efforts to promote a culture of recycling and reuse. 

We made substantial investments in a green economy. £700 million, via the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, is going towards leveraging the research and innovation capacities of the British economy to tackle ecological and environmental issues. We're increasing investment in the Green Investment Bank, which the Liberal Democrats spearheaded the creation of in the last government, by £1 billion, and increasing its remit and powers. We're investing £1.3 billion in a circular economy drive, promoting reuse and energy and resource efficiency; in helping local communities and regional economies transition away from fossil fuel reliance; in promoting clean vehicles, such as the electric car industry; and efforts to position the UK as a global leader in developing and manufacturing green technologies.

This is on top of our efforts to prioritise the preservation of biodiversity and ecological sustainability in global trade. 

Verdict: slight Conservative win

+1 Media XP to Macmillan, Bertie, and Goose