Llanelli MP Nia Griffith has called for the UK Government to take the lead on green issues at the forthcoming Rio+20 Earth Summit.
Nia spoke out at a Tropical Forests Need You event in Westminster to highlight the importance of climate action in the UK ahead of the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil this week (20-22 June).
The occasion was organised by the RSPB, to show the importance of tropical forests and talk about the work the organisation is doing to help save these important places, and encouraged participants to sample the RSPB’s very own Tropical Forest friendly chocolate, which is free of palm oil.
While discussing how best to raise awareness of the issues, Nia Griffith pledged support for the Stop Climate Chaos’s ‘Rio-UK Declaration’, which states that the UK should lead the world in the transition to a fair and green economy, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and in the process creating jobs, whilst contributing towards sustainable development for all. The Rio+20 summit is an important milestone for this ambition, and the UK should engage constructively, behind a vision for a global green economy which benefits all people.
Nia commented: “ A few years ago, the UK led the world with the Climate Change Act, but I am very concerned that we are now slipping backwards, with a government which is shilly shallying on green issues and is sadly failing to keep its promise of being the greenest government ever. I want to see the UK at the forefront of developing green manufacturing jobs here at home , as well as taking a lead internationally to get countries across the world to co-operate on combatting climate change
The event was part of the ‘Rio Connection’, a coordinated campaign to mark twenty years since the original Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Rio Connection has seen hundreds of people across the country organising Rio-themed events.