Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, at Prime Ministers Questions today revealed new analysis by Labour that shows the government is set to woefully miss its climate targets by almost 50 years.

If progress continues at its current rate, the government target of reaching “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 will not be met until 2099.

Emission reduction has slowed to a crawl in recent years, with the amount of carbon released falling only 1.5 per cent in 2018 – less than half the fall of 3.2 per cent in 2017.

Failure to meet the 2050 target could have catastrophic effects on human and animal life in the UK. This could include increased flooding and wildfires, greater health risks from pollution and extreme heat, and food shortages as a consequence of agricultural disruption, and loss of habitats and wildlife.

Only last week, the government’s official climate watchdog the Committee on Climate Change slammed the government’s climate change efforts as “being run like Dad’s Army” and leaving the population at real risk. According to the report, just one of 25 vital emissions-cutting policies has been delivered.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“This government has spent too long treating the climate emergency like a PR exercise, setting out targets it knows full well it isn’t on track to meet.

“We’re already seeing the catastrophic impact of climate change, from wildfires in Yorkshire to flooding in Wales. If this government doesn’t change course now it will be the next generation that payS the price – not to mention the millions of people already at risk in the Global South.

“The climate emergency cannot be left to the market. Labour takes the climate crisis seriously, we got parliament to declare a climate emergency, and in office we will kick start a Green Industrial Revolution to safeguard our future and transform our economy.”