A GROUP of Cricklade residents joined around 8,000 people from across the UK to press their MP for action on climate change last Wednesday.

The team, including Graham Stockill from Cricklade, met North Wiltshire MP James Grey at the Houses of Parliament in the first mass lobby of the new parliament.

The lobby was organised by the Climate Coalition in support of its For the Love of... campaign and they spoke to James Grey about the things that they want to protect from climate change.

Graham said: “We hear stories of women and children digging into sandy riverbeds in search of water in Ethiopia, of melting glaciers in Bolivia where water shortages are an acute issue and how nearly a fifth of Bangladesh will be submerged as sea levels rise if temperatures rise by 2 degrees by 2050.

“The UK has benefited from being a leading industrialised nation, but the dark side of that is the impact we have had on the globe with our decades of carbon emissions.

“It is vital that we act. We shared with James Grey our love of this planet and its people and urged him to call for urgent, ambitious action on climate change.” James Grey gave the group of campaigners more than an hour of his time, sitting debating beside the Thames as the day drew to a close.

Mr Gray said he takes a “precautionary approach to climate change” but agreed with Christian Aid supporters that “the fact is, we must do all we can to save and preserve the globe for future generations to come”.

Mr Gray declared said: “I support solar and renewables and I have consistently raised questions about solar farms with Ministers, over the last three years”.

Campaigners claim this year is a crucial one in the battle against climate change, as in December the world’s governments will meet in Paris to reach an international climate deal.