SOUTH West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison met Wiltshire constituents and campaigners against climate change at Westminster on Wednesday to hear their concerns.

The group of climate change activists from around the area joined thousands of others from all over the UK to pledge their support for climate action and talk with their MPs about the issues.

Dr Murrison said afterwards: “This government is leading the industrialised world by committed to zero carbon by 2050. That’s a really tough target and will only work if other countries follow our lead.”

One of the Wiltshire activists who took part was Fenella Brotherwood, from Hoopers Pool at Southwick, Trowbridge, who is a member of both Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, and has campaigned on environmental issues for many years.

She said: “We were able to press upon him the importance of him supporting a strong Environment Bill which calls for tough new policies to protect our environment in particular calling for zero net emissions earlier than the proposed 2050.

“We were encouraged to see that Dr Murrison was keen to talk about these issues further and pledge his support but it was clear to us that he was not at present looking at the larger picture and of only short term economic growth.

“Unfortunately, what Dr Murrison and the general population are failing to grasp at present is the fact that we are all facing cataclysmic effects if we continue to pollute the planet in the way we are.

“We need change much more rapidly than 2050 or even the proposed compromise of 2045, if we have a hope of preventing catastrophic change in our environment.

“Job security and economic growth will be of little matter If we don't learn to change and change rapidly as our institutions will start to break down and the very nature of the way we see 'jobs' will change.

“The effects of climate change are already being felt much more obviously in poorer countries but even in our local areas we can all see things are not looking good.

“We may have noticed the changing weather patterns, the increased flooding, maybe the absence of wildlife in our gardens and flowers appearing out of season.

“All this is bad news for our futures and the futures of our children and grandchildren.

“Don't despair, we can stop this but we need to wake up and put pressure on Governments and look personally at the way we live our lives and how we can reduce our overall consumption in all areas.

“We have the power to change, let’s not waste this opportunity as we are fast running out of time and in the words of Robert Swan 'the Biggest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it'.