Nigel yesterday met with a group of around thirty constituents from the lobby group Catholic Agency For Overseas Development. The group met Mr Evans in Westminster Hall in order to talk to him about environmental issues. Among the constituents were pupils from St Augustine’s Roman Catholic High School who were interested to hear Nigel’s views on Climate Change and what must be done.
Nigel spoke to and answered the questions of the thirty or so keen lobbyists for an hour on adaptation, mitigation and what must be done to help the global poor. Speaking of his experiences in Bangladesh, which is at risk from rising sea levels, Nigel relayed his shock at the absolute poverty that is suffered there, particularly among young children.
Talking in Westminster Hall, Nigel said:
“The focus must be moved away from fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy. In the meantime we must make sure that our energy solutions are safe and ecologically sound.
“I am strongly in favour of solar panels and, indeed, I am delighted to see many solar panels on new houses in the Ribble Valley. If it was up to me, I would say that, if there aren’t solar panels on the house, the house isn’t getting built! I also want to see a move from petrol powered cars to those powered by electricity.”
Nigel additionally spoke of the environmental impact of food wastage, stating that the throwing away of food leads to higher demands for food to be grown, using up unnecessary energy which the planet cannot afford.
The pupils from St Augustine’s asked Nigel what he thought the government should do to combat climate change and global poverty. Nigel answered:
“I am committed to this government keeping up our foreign aid budget which is the second largest foreign aid budget in the world. There are those who say that we should slash that budget because it falls into the wrong hands. But I say that we cannot relinquish our pledge to the global poor because of this – we must instead focus upon making sure the money is used correctly.”
Nigel also gave a brief history of Westminster Hall and explained that it was the place where Guy Fawkes was tried, and found guilty, for treason after conspiring to blow up the Houses of Parliament.