An Alliance MLA has issued a warning that efforts must be increased to address the climate crisis.

"In 2020, extreme weather events uprooted 30.7 million people from their homes, the highest figure in a decade, according to new analysis from the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)," said MLA John Blair.


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"In recent weeks, we have witnessed disastrous floods in Germany, Belguim and Italy that have had a devastating impact on people's lives. We've seen wildfires razing Turkey and spread across southern Europe.


"Climate experts are clear: these recent events mark the end of a stable climate, we must step up our efforts to minimise the damage caused by extreme weather.


"We have learned many lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, but a distressing lesson has been that high impact threats must be acted upon in a timely fashion and delay is costly. We need a green recovery with huge investment and urgent, radical changes to our economy – this radical change it isn't just sensible, it's now critical."