THE DEBATE on climate change was brought to the aisles of a Petersfield church with the East Hampshire MP a guest speaker.
Damian Hinds took the opportunity during a week of action on climate and energy by the Catholic Agency for Oversees Development (CAFOD), to outline and defend government policy on the issues.
After being introduced by Kevin Fry, CAFOD representative at St Laurence’s Roman Catholic Church, Mr Hinds answered questions from an audience which included Green Party members and scientists as well as parishioners.
An assessment by the Department of Energy and Climate Change says that climate change is one of the greatest threats to both UK and global security, with the overwhelming scientific consensus that it is being caused by human activity.
Mr Hinds linked the government’s policy on climate change to its overseas aid policy which committed to spending on many of the poorest countries such as Bangladesh, which were those that could also be seriously affected by climate change.
Westminster had one of the best records in the world of tackling the issues, he insisted, second only to Denmark.
He also said though that the government needed to continue to develop its energy plans, and to change the way people thought about energy and climate change.
The priorities were: ultra-low emissions in vehicles, district heating systems, buildings that were more heat retentive, battery technology improvement, and concentration on gas and nuclear power generation for when renewables were not available – the wind not blowing or the sun not shining.
There should also too be carbon neutral growth for aviation by 2020, he said.
During the lively question and answer session in the church in Station Road, a quarter of the audience said they were in favour of fracking. Mr Hinds gave assurance that the UK had one of the toughest health and safety regimes and safety would be paramount in this new field of development, with coal being phased out.