Barry met with Deputy Xochitl Zagal, the Coordinator for Environment and Natural Resources for the Parliamentary Group of MORENA, the government party in Mexico. Deputy Zagal met with Barry to discuss UK-Mexico cooperation on climate change.
Joint Statement on Climate Change from Dip. Xòchitl Zagal (MORENA, Mexico) & Barry Gardiner MP (Labour Party, U.K.)
We declare that the planet is facing a climate and environment emergency that threatens the peace, development and prosperity of our countries. We share a deep sense of concern that further ecological breakdown will only worsen the gross and unfair inequalities in our societies, disproportionately affecting the poorest and most vulnerable persons the greatest.
We therefore call for an immediate, global response to address this crisis; and, in doing so, we reaffirm our mutual commitment to meeting the Paris Agreement’s aim to limit global warming to 1.5°C and the Sustainable Development Goals.
To that end, we support the UN Secretary General’s call for all nations to submit new, updated Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement before 2020 that represent progressions beyond their existing pledges.
We recognise, however, that promises and targets alone are insufficient to arrest catastrophic climate change. We therefore strongly urge our respective governments to bring forward new policies that will deliver the decarbonisation of our respective economies, noting that renewable electricity generation can serve as a source of cheap, low-carbon power that is affordable to all, while also enhancing energy security and improving access to energy.
Given that climate change is already threatening the survival of our societies, particularly impacting the livelihoods of the poorest, we also call for climate change adaptation measures to be strengthened.
Moreover, we express our shared concern with the use of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) to extract fossil fuels in our countries, noting in particular the risks this poses to groundwater quality and public health. We believe fracking is incompatible with our shared pursuit of a sustainable planet.
We also note the particular importance of education and youth engagement with enhancing public awareness on climate change. We therefore encourage legislators in our countries to push for climate change and sustainable development to be included on school curriculums at all educational stages so that all generations are informed on how to tackle the climate emergency.
We are alarmed by the ongoing wildfires engulfing the Amazon Rainforest and condemn President Bolsonaro of Brazil for failing to tackle this crisis. We urge President Bolsonaro to accept the funding offered by the G7 to help support Brazil in extinguishing these wildfires.
We pledge to continue to work together, as allied sister parties in our respective countries, to fight the climate crisis hand in hand. We are proud of the strength of the UK-Mexico diplomatic relationship that has been instrumental in unlocking ambitious action on climate change in the past, and we seek to build on this cooperative spirit between our parties and our countries in order to accelerate the global transition to a net zero economy.
