Commenting on the launch of the UK’s Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09), Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency said:
"These new projections remind us starkly of the choices we face in ensuring a sustainable future for our fragile planet. A failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will lead to a battle for survival for mankind and many other species across the globe by the end of this century; and we will feel the effects here in the UK too.
"The Environment Agency is at the forefront of the fight against climate change, through our work as greenhouse gas emissions regulator and our lead roles on managing flood risk and water resources. We will be working hard to help people cope with the consequences of climate change and to do everything we can to stop it happening in the first place. But it needs urgent action from Government, the public sector and business to make it easy for people to do the right thing and to transform the way we use energy and resources.
"In the UK we have the opportunity to become a world leader in low carbon energy and technology, creating jobs and a healthier environment. That has to be the way forward for our economy after the recession. We cannot return to the ‘profit at any cost’ approach of the past."
ENDS
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