Voters call for action on climate change

The next government is urged to offer more support to flood victims

Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, according to the United Nations.

Despite its importance, some voters think it is not being discussed enough during this general election campaign.

BBC News has spoken to people who believe it should be the top issue for the next government.

“We had to strip everything out and start again. We buy plastic things such as chairs so we can just wash them down.

"Our new sprung floor is foam and plastic so it can come up and go back down again, as opposed to the wooden floor we had.

“We are working on the assumption that it will happen again and probably sooner rather than later.”

Olivia Egan is describing the aftermath of a flood which left her business, Jack’s Theatre School at Catcliffe, under 3ft (90cm) of water.

Storm Babet brought around a month’s worth of rainfall in 36 hours last October, flooding 250 homes and businesses.

Eight months on, moisture is still coming out of the walls of the theatre school through dehumidifiers.

'Will happen again'

The Environment Agency said the flood was a result of both surface water and the breach of the River Rother’s defences - but the agency was criticised by Rotherham MP Sarah Champion and councillors for not issuing flood warnings early enough.

Ms Egan wants the next government to offer more support to flood victims.

“Obviously dealing with climate change itself is really important but the government needs to look at insurance because it is very difficult and much more expensive to get insured so that is a huge issue.

“Also the insurers will replace like for like whereas we now want things which are flood resilient and the process needs to be quicker and easier.

Olivia Egan's theatre school in Catcliffe was flooded during Storm Babet

“The truth is people will not want to be on a flood plain if those measures are not in place and suddenly all these houses will be empty.

“We really do not want to leave here, but there has definitely been moments of thinking, 'should we go and find somewhere else?'

"We love Catcliffe, we love this building but it has definitely been a thought process because it is going to happen again.”

Miriam Graham is a structural engineer specialising in sustainability

Structural engineer Miriam Graham knows all about making buildings climate friendly.

She works for Arup and leads a national network group looking at structural engineering sustainability.

She wants the government to make carbon assessments mandatory in the UK construction industry and to provide incentives for companies to use low-carbon alternatives.

And she says building something from scratch is not the best option.

“We should look at what we already have, as the most sustainable solution is to not build anything at all.

“If we can retain and reuse buildings, be creative with them, that is going to save a lot of carbon and emissions.

“If we do need to knock a building down, we need to retain those materials, such as extracting beams.

"The government has a really big role to play in helping accelerate how we can deconstruct and use more of those materials and stop them from being wasted.”

Dr Tom Payne is a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University

It is not just flooding which is destroying homes and livelihoods.

Wildfires ripped through South Yorkshire in July 2022 when temperatures reached more than 39 degrees.

Yet the environment does not seem to be a hot topic this general election.

BBC research shows climate change is only in the top 10 issues for voters aged under 34.

Dr Tom Payne is a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.

He recently staged a performance at Sheffield’s Crucible theatre which will kickstart "Storm-Cloud", a major programme of engagement, exhibitions, performances and films around the climate emergency.

A couple of years ago he co-led the Ark Sheffield project in which people reflected on what the floods meant to them.

He said: “The conversations illustrated people's very immediate concerns with the NHS or having enough money to go to the shops and buy food this month.

"Often conversations around the climate emergency are secondary to those.

“I can see how political parties focus on those very immediate concerns however all those things like the NHS, migration and the economy are linked to the climate emergency and will get progressively worse if we don't tackle them.”

What do the political parties say about climate change?

The Conservatives say they will meet their goal of reaching net zero by 2050. They would treble offshore wind power and approve new small nuclear power stations.

Labour would spend £1.7bn a year on a Great British Energy company to create 650,000 jobs, drive industrial renewal, lower bills and create secure supplies of clean energy.

The Liberal Democrats have a net zero target of 2045. They would speed up the deployment of solar and wind power so 90% of power would be generated by renewables by 2030.

The Green Party wants to reach net zero by 2040 at the latest and would phase out nuclear power.

Reform UK say they would scrap any plans to reach net zero.

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