The World Meteorological Organisation says atmospheric concentrations of CO2 rose in 2016 at a record rate, reaching 403.3 parts per million - a level not seen since the Pliocene three million years ago.

This would mean a three degree temperature rise rather than the 1.5 - 2 degree target within the 2015 Paris Agreement being discussed at the UN conference in Bonn.

Climate change is clearly linked to the increasing extent of and damage caused by storms and hurricanes, forest fires, floods, loss of species, crop failures etc. While it gets harder to halt every month, none of this is ‘inevitable’.

The first thing our government could do would be to follow the French, Scottish and Irish governments by calling an immediate halt to fracking. They should restore funding to provide free home insulation and make BREEAM Excellent the minimum standard for the millions of new homes planned for the UK in the next few years.

That alone could replace the demand for the dirty energy produced by the frackers.

Kirby Misperton is the front line for fracking – protests are essential to oppose this technology spreading to Haxby, Wigginton and the surrounding areas of York.

Cllr Andy D’Agorne

Green Party,

Broadway West,

York