Reader's letter: Climate change’s terrifying effects are already here – it is time for a Green New Deal

I’m a young teacher, originally from West Sussex, and I care deeply about the future my students are currently facing. Recent extreme weather events, such as the summer heat waves across Europe, the devastating flooding in Pakistan and Hurricane Ian in Florida, have further reinforced that the terrifying effects of climate change are already here.

And yet I remain frustrated that the climate crisis was barely mentioned during the reporting of the heat waves, and that even less was written about the fossil fuel corporations that caused, and are continuing to fuel, this crisis.

The media has an important role to play – and a moral obligation to tell the whole truth – that this is a climate crisis caused by the greed of fossil fuel companies, and the banks and governments that support them.

The science is absolutely clear: with every fraction of a degree of warming, we’ll see and suffer more extreme heat, droughts, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes. It is time for the government to step up and deliver a just transition to renewable energy, for insulated and energy-efficient, affordable housing and for climate action – a Green New Deal.

It is time for the government to say no to new oil and gas licenses and to stop climate wrecking projects like Rosebank – an oil and gas field that, if approved, would create equivalent to the combined annual CO2 emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries in the world – from going ahead.

It is time for newspapers, both local and national, to hold oil and gas giants and the UK government accountable, and to be transparent with the public about who is actually causing this crisis.

It is time for change. The future depends on it.

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