Too little, too late – the politics of climate change by Colin Challen MP
I see that I am listed at number eight in the pecking order to ask a question of the Prime Minister at PMQs this Wednesday. This is a very frustrating position to be in, since depending on how long the Cameron/Brown spat lasts, and how long other MPs questions are, the allotted 30 minutes may expire before we get to question number eight. Of course, during the course of the session one has to continually get up and sit down (the process by which one catches the Speaker’s eye) so at least I’ll be in for some exercise. If I am called to ask a question, I can exclusively reveal to the blog world that my question will relate to the Kopernikus earth observation programme, which is run by the European Space Agency. For all the UK’s leadership on climate change, it seems we are not willing to pay our fair share of Kopernikus’s costs, which is a major embarrassment. Today I am putting down an Early Day Motion (though EDMs were once described as parliamentary confetti, so don’t get carried away) to highlight the issue. Earth observation is an essential tool to better understand the processes of climate change. These observations need to be more frequent, they need to provide more information, and quicker. Otherwise, we may just end up stumbling around in the dark. My EDM reads:
Climate change and the UK’s contribution to the Kopernikus satellite programme
This House recognises that the UK has established a lead in the understanding of climate change, with the Hadley Centre, Tyndall Centre and Walker Centre amongst many other highly regarded institutions providing essential insights into the causes and effects of climate change; notes that to follow Lord Stern’s advice that more will have to be done to tackle climate change it will be necessary to increase the global research effort and therefore calls upon the government to fully meet its funding obligations for the European Space Agency’s Kopernikus earth observation programme and further notes that by doing so it will be making a firm commitment to the development of the UK-based space industry.
Please ask your MP to sign it!