UK firefighters respond to IPCC climate change flooding and extreme heat warning

UK firefighters have responded to a new UN report on climate change by stating that much more needs to be done on climate change, “in terms of both prevention and adapting to its devastating impacts”.

The report, released yesterday and from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggests that Europe will face increasingly severe climate impacts, including in terms of heatwaves and flooding, unless action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Firefighters are the public service primarily tasked with responding to flooding incidents in the UK.  There are known links between heatwaves and wildfires, which firefighters are also responsible for responding to.

Commenting, Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said:

“We have had so many warnings now but still our politicians are not taking climate change seriously. They’re not accelerating changes to our economy and our society as quickly as they need to, and they’re not investing in a vital piece of climate change adaptation: the fire and rescue service. Very soon we could be seeing devastating flooding and heatwaves on our shores, and a fire and rescue service that has seen huge cuts including one in every five firefighters since 2010 will find this too much to deal with. We don’t even have statutory funding for dealing with flooding in England: that’s an embarrassment and symbolic of a government hiding its head in the sand as an existential crisis approaches.”

For more information, interviews or comment please contact Ben Duncan-Duggal on ben.duncan-duggal@fbu.org.uk and 07825 635224.