Earlier this week, for the first time in its history, the Met Office issued a red warning for extreme heat. This was because at multiple points across the country the temperature broke the previous record and climbed to over 40 °C. This has had an obvious impact on older people and importantly on infrastructures like roads and trains.
While extreme weather and heat waves are not a new phenomenon, we are having to adapt to temperatures not previously experienced in this country before and it is likely that we will continue to see events like this with increasing frequency, intensity, and severity in the years to come. Since 2002, the UK has experienced the hottest 10 years on record, and there is now a considerable weight of evidence that our climate has changed due to human actions.
This Government has led the way in combating Climate Change over the last few years. By hosting the G7 last summer and COP-26 in the autumn, we demonstrated our commitment to tackling Climate Change. We put nature at the heart of our COP presidency, and we have worked closely with countries around the world on this agenda. This includes a commitment made by over 100 world leaders, representing countries containing more than 85% of the world’s forests, to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. This was a hugely important breakthrough, backed by £14 billion of public and private money, that will mainly help to protect the Amazon, and tropical forests in Indonesia and the Congo Basin as well as other significant forests around the world.
While improving our protection of nature is vital in reducing the effects of climate change, it is also important to change the way we generate energy. About 40% of our power now comes from cleaner and cheaper renewables, but there is more work to do.
There are several businesses across Cornwall that are working hard to create new, green industries that make use of natural resources in a sustainable way. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently awarded Celtic Sea Power, and their partner TwinHub, 1st place in the 4th Allocation Round of the Contracts for Difference scheme. This will mean that the first ever Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) Turbines in the Celtic Sea will be just off the coast of Hayle. The offshore site will host two floating offshore wind platforms, each with two turbines and generate enough power for 45,000 homes. It will also open the door for millions of pounds of investment in green, carbon-neutral, clean energy in Cornwall and Hayle in particular. This is only the 3rd site across the UK to host floating wind turbines and is incredibly significant for the growth and regeneration of our area.
It is clear we have a great deal to do further before we overcome climate change, however, this agreement is a significant step forward. Cornwall has led the country on innovative technology in the past, we can be proud that we are continuing this tradition by helping the whole country by cutting emissions and establishing a pathway to protect our precious environment for future generations.
