It was fantastic to see so many people across the country take part in the Youth Climate Strike earlier this month and I was really glad to meet with inspiring young people at the rally in Sheffield.

Through their actions and words, the young people who are leading the strike are ensuring that climate change stays at the top of the political agenda. The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges we face and I’m proud that Labour led the way by declaring a climate emergency in Parliament.

That declaration now needs to be backed up by radical action, which is why I’ve fought to stop fracking coming to Sheffield and back plans for an ambitious ultralow emissions zone in our city. I’ve also led calls to invest in renewables and to make our transport greener.

At our recent Party Conference, Labour announced a series of ambitious, but realistic, plans to invest in green energy. Under the ‘People’s Power Plan’, Labour will deploy clean power at the scale and pace needed to deal with the climate emergency. By 2030, Labour’s new wind farms will produce energy equivalent to 38 coal power stations and provide electricity for 57 million households.

Labour also announced policies that will help us shift away from cars driven by fossil fuels to electric cars. The next Labour Government will make £3 billion available to invest in new electric car technology and provide funding to help individuals and businesses to replace old polluting vehicles with electric alternatives.

As a society we need to do much more to step up to the challenge of the climate crisis. Whereas the Tories are removing support from renewables, Labour is putting bold and credible plans in place to rapidly decarbonise our economy and safeguard the future of our planet.