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“Education is key to tackling climate change” says city MP as he joins students in Parliament for Teach the Future

By 26 February 2020No Comments

Stephen Morgan MP joined a parliamentary climate change event alongside students from across the country, including Portsmouth.

The city MP today attended Teach the Future, a parliamentary campaign seeking to urgently reform the education system to focus further on climate change.

Mr Morgan said:

“I believe that we need to ensure that the education system is at the heart of the Government’s plan to tackle climate change, so the next generation can lead society to safety.

That is why for some time I have been campaigning alongside local activists, XR, Friends of the Earth and youth movements to put pressure on government to act.

We have already seen leadership from youth movements across the nation and it is now time government matched this commitment. As we draw nearer to the UK hosted COP26, the need could not be greater for government action.”

This is not the first time Stephen Morgan MP has taken action to promote the need for educational reform. In 2019, the city MP wrote a targeted letter to the Education Secretary demanding climate change be considered a core subject. A request refused by the Conservative government.

The city MP said:

“If we do not undertake a major structural overhaul of our education system, we are clipping the wings of future generations ability to tackle the world’s greatest issue.

75% of teachers surveyed by teach the future say they feel they have not received adequate climate change training. 4% of students say they feel they know enough about the issue. Cleary government needs to make changes.

That is why I remain committed to applying pressure and scrutiny to all government decision making on this matter and will continue to fight for increased education on our environment in schools.”

The city MP has been a climate ambassador both in Portsmouth and parliament. He has worked alongside XR and Friends of the Earth, played a crucial role in the declaration of a climate change emergency locally and nationally, has applied scrutiny to government decision making and continues to organise major community.