A NORTH Yorkshire environment-friendly group has penned a letter to local MPs asking for more action towards decarbonisation.

Thirsk Friends of the Environment wrote the letter after the Climate Change Committee published a new report on the effects of climate change.

The report claims that although the Government has made "historic" climate change promises, the past year, it has been too slow to follow these with delivery.

Thirsk Friends of the Environment feel the Government need to work faster to achieve decarbonisation.

READ MORE: Hambleton sees highest Covid cases this week -see area by area

Chris Stark, chief executive of the CCC, said: "There is a genuine gulf between what the government has committed to and the action on the ground to deliver on it.”

David Tonge, local group coordinator, said: "The Climate Change Committee is the Governments own statutory advisory body of experts and you’d expect the Government to sit up and take notice of what the CCC has to say.

“In fact, with previous discussions I’ve had with Kevin Hollinrake, he has indicated himself that that’s what he feels the Government should be doing, they should be working closely with the CCC and implementing its recommendations, at least that’s what I understood him to say.

“Within Government and within the conservative party and in Parliament more generally, there are different voices her on what scale of ambition is needed.

“There will be voices pushing for as much as possible, for a massive green recovery packaged and there’ll be others who are much more reluctant or trying to backpedal what they can get away with it.

“It’s all on the back of COP26 that we are chairing as a country in November, and if we’re going to inspire other countries then clearly we have to get our own house in order and put really ambitious policies out there.

READ MORE: Man and woman steal from Home Bargains and allegedly assault staff

“What the CCC report makes clear is that yes there has been all these eye catching targets, the 2050 net zero, the commitment to 68 per cent by 2030 and 78 per cent by 2035 and the no more sales of petrol and diesel cars after 2030.

“These are genuinely good and ambitious targets, but, as the report says, there is a gulf between those targets and the concrete policies in place to get us there, and so that was what prompted this letter, to try and push our own MPs in our region.

“We also got Rishi Sunak in there as well, who will have a large degree of say on what money gets spent on and if you go into the launch of big green recovery and lots of Green initiatives then you need a lot investment in that as well, so that could be one of the areas that is being held up.”

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Malton and Thirsk, said: "I welcome the correspondence from Friends of the Earth and the other community groups in Thirsk and Malton regarding their concerns about climate change and the pace of our response. This is one of the greatest challenges we face and has always been one of my top priorities, which is why I was one of the founder members of the Conservative Environment network

"It is important to recognise that internationally, Britain is leading the way in many ways including by being the first major economy to legislate to achieve net zero by 2050. According to an independent assessment by PwC, since 2000 the UK has decarbonised its economy faster than any of the world’s twenty largest countries.

"We are one of the first developed countries to take coal out of the energy mix completely, with the announcement that all coal-fired power stations where carbon emissions are not being captured and stored will be closed by 2025.

READ MORE: Here are some of the best and worst rated doctors surgeries in North Yorkshire

"Campaigning on environmental issues has been important to me since being elected in 2015. I championed green technologies such as wind and solar power, led the campaign in the North for more spending on rail infrastructure to keep cars off our roads and actively support a campaign to plant 50 million trees across the North."

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054