Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen West MP Nick Ainger is being urged to press the government to do more about climate change.
In a letter to the MP, Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth has asked him to write to both the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary to try to persuade them to support a climate change bill. The bill, which Friends of the Earth is introducing to parliament, would compel the present and future governments to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by at least three per cent each year.
The majority of MPs have already signed an Early Day Motion in support of a climate change bill. Nick Ainger has been unable to do so as he is a junior government minister. The MP is now being urged to ask for the bill to be included in this year's Queen's Speech for it to be considered in the next Parliament.
Gordon James, of Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, said: "Scientific evidence is increasingly showing that urgent action is needed to reduce the threat posed by climate change. Yet emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas causing climate change, are on an upward trend.
"We are pleased that the majority of MPs, including the majority of Labour MPs, now support a climate change bill, but are disappointed that the government has yet to give it its backing. We hope that further pressure from MPs and the public will ensure that the government will be persuaded to include this measure in this year's Queen's Speech."
Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth has also sent the MP a copy of a recent report by the Tyndall Climate Change Centre at Manchester University, which states that the Government has only four years to implement a major new programme of action to cut carbon emissions if the UK is to play its part in keeping global temperatures below danger levels.
Gordon James continued: "The report states that the Government's target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 is too little and a target of 70 per cent reductions within 30 years is now required. This, the report shows, can be achieved by a series of measures, such as major improvements in energy efficiency, renewable energy developments and cleaner forms of transport, which could be implemented without radically altering our way of life.
"We already have most of the technical solutions to make significant cuts in emissions of the gases that are causing climate change. What is lacking is the political will."