We can choose a better future. Scientists the world over tell us we must keep global warming below 2°C or we’ll face climate chaos. The UK can help stop the chaos by tapping into vast renewable energy reserves instead of building new coal power stations that cannot capture their carbon emissions and are unlikely to ever find a realistic way to do so. Not one commercial coal power station worldwide has yet managed to remove the CO₂ it belches out. And time is at a premium. Phasing out coal power stations that cannot capture their own emissions will make the most significant long-term impact on climate change. If Government gives coal the go ahead, the UK will help send global warming into the 2°C plus danger zone. But we have a say in this decision. Together we can get Government to give renewable energy the green light.

The world’s poorest will be hit first and worst. In fact they are already suffering the floods, droughts and hurricanes that the UK is helping to stir up. There is no climate justice in this. We can and must make things right. The UK can and must clean up its act. One coal power station alone pumps out the same amount of CO₂ in a year as 30 developing countries combined. If the UK switches to renewable energy it will lower these emissions, help protect the most vulnerable, and show other big emitters it can be done - Japan, the US and Europe release over 40 per cent of global emissions. The Prime Minister must take responsibility, take the lead, and say no to coal without carbon capture.

We can keep the lights on. The sun, wind and waves do not have an expiry date, unlike the coal power stations that will soon close. The UK can bridge the gap that these closures will create if Government gets behind its own target to deliver 15 per cent of energy from home-grown renewable energy sources by 2020. Instead Government is proposing to build new coal power stations that will emit yet more carbon.

The UK has more than a third of Europe’s potential offshore wind resource – enough to power the country nearly three times over*. Currently the UK is struggling to generate 4 per cent of our electricity needs from all renewable sources. Yet offshore wind power alone could deliver the same amount in the next few years. Government must choose wisely and make things right.

*http://www.bwea.com/offshore/info.html

The UK can produce low carbon power on a mass scale without messing with the environment. Renewable energy is becoming more cost-competitive, while energy bills are soaring, hitting the poorest hardest. UK offshore wind and wave power could bring in £3 billion and put 160,000 people in work. It's also about being energy efficient. Two thirds of power from coal is lost as heat before you’ve even put the kettle on. What’s more, not one commercial coal power station worldwide has managed to remove the CO₂ it belches out. We cannot wait until a safe and affordable solution to this problem is found. The heat is on the Prime Minister to make coal power stations without carbon capture a thing of the past. Immediate investment in renewable energy must be Government’s top priority.

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is the committed supporters, campaigners, students, voters, workers, nature lovers, hearts, minds and voices of 80 organisations. We are environmental and international development charities, trade unions, faith groups and more. We must take action on climate change. We must limit its effect on the world’s poorest people and most vulnerable species, and the environment we all depend on. Demanding political action will achieve this. We want renewable energy to be the UK's number 1 energy choice. We want renewable energy on a mass scale. And we can get it if we work together. The more of you that get on board, the louder our voice will be, the sooner we can stop climate chaos.