Tackling the climate emergency is actually good for making sure people have warm homes, homes that are affordable, that we have affordable public transport.
Green councillor Caroline Russell, who is challenging Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North in the General Election, has said it is impossible to separate climate change from tackling other social justice issues.
Ms Russell said that even those who lived in big cities such as London would feel the effects of the climate crisis.
She said: "There is so much going on at the moment in terms of school strikes, in terms of XR (Extinction Rebellion). People understand that climate change is a really serious issue and we can't ignore it.
Emergency
"We've got flooding going on at the moment where people are experiencing the absolute misery of being flooded out, of having soggy carpets, of having ruined sofas, ruined papers, ruined family photographs.
"If we don't take the proper action to tackle (climate change) then we're going to see more cost and expense to our community. Tackling the climate emergency is actually good for making sure people have warm homes, homes that are affordable, that we have affordable public transport.
"You can't separate out the climate emergency from tackling social justice issues."
Grip
Asked if she thought people in the north London constituency would be as concerned with issues such as flooding, Ms Russell said that the effects of climate change would be felt across the entire country.
She said: "Flooding does affect people in London. Just the other day we had extreme rainfall that flooded three or four stations.
"Londoners are at risk of drought, heatwave, huge health impacts that come from every degree extra of heat in the summer. These impacts of climate breakdown are affecting Londoners already and will affect Londoners worse if we don't get a grip."
This Author
Mike Bedigan is a reporter with PA. Image: The Green Party in Islington.
