15:05 Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)

“It is essential to deal with coronavirus as it is—a global emergency—but it is clear we must work harder to predict and prepare for the existential risks we face. Not only the threat of pandemics, but the climate crisis”

We are all aware of the pressures that regular election cycles place on decision makers to pursue policies that show benefits quickly and the difficulty that that can add in addressing longer-term challenges. The climate crisis is an obvious example, with decades of delay between today’s emissions and the full impacts of their heating. The glacial pace of climate action shows that economies and political systems the world over are failing to value future lives and, indeed, the wellbeing of current generations in the manner they deserve. Last month, a landmark report from the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and The Lancet found that no single country is sufficiently protecting children’s health, their environment and their futures. That index, which compares performance on issues from child flourishing to greenhouse gas emissions and equity, finds that countries the world over are failing the next generation. We can and must do better than this. The same is true in other areas, including poverty, regional inequality, environmental degradation and the over-consumption of finite resources. Each of these have their impacts today, but each also harms the health, means and opportunities of tomorrow.

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