Dear John,

2023 was Earth’s hottest year yet. Climate-driven storms, wildfires and flooding are constantly in the news. Catastrophic. Disastrous. Devastating. Honestly, we’re running out of words to describe how bad the climate crisis is getting and how critical climate action is right now.

That’s why we’re demanding a Big Climate Plan that meets our climate promises in a fair way. The energy secretary can commit to it at COP29, the United Nation’s international climate conference, which starts on 11 November.

We need ambitious climate leadership more than ever. Will Mr Miliband step up to this challenge on the global stage? Please urge him to do so.

We’ve already won legal challenges against the previous government's weak climate plans in court. Twice. The judge ordered a new, credible climate plan by May 2025. That means the new government and Miliband’s department have 6 months to get it done. And done well.

As a nation, we promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68% – or two-thirds – by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. That’s not that far into the future. So the UK must ramp up climate action before it’s too late. Especially for communities most at risk from the impacts of climate breakdown, who've contributed the least towards this crisis.

The world urgently needs countries to show climate leadership at COP29 UN climate talks. Particularly since the US presidential battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has thrown all talk of climate action stateside wildly off track.

The solutions are there for the taking. Home insulation, renewable energy, better public transport and more. We know government budgets are tight right now. So are many of ours. But together, we can convince our energy minister to make the right decisions to protect us now and in the future.

So, will you write to the minister who's deciding how the UK tackles the climate crisis?

Thank you for encouraging the energy secretary to be the climate leader we so desperately need.

Please forward this email to as many people as possible before COP29 starts in under 2 weeks’ time. The more people that write to him, the more support we can show for strong climate leadership.

Together with you, we can demand the solutions that protect people and planet today and in the future.

In determination,

Danny

Campaigner

Friends of the Earth

PS We’ve got some great breaking climate news. Despite a Supreme Court victory we supported in June, unlawful oil drilling at Horse Hill in Surrey continued – until we applied pressure alongside local campaigners. We wrote to the local council urging them to put a stop to the developer's unauthorised oil drilling. And the developer has finally stopped.

Action on the climate crisis needs to come from local and national government. With your help we can keep the momentum going and push Ed Miliband for real climate leadership.