Vote to restore our environment. Vote Will Aczel for Exeter

Global heating is the reason I got engaged in and passionate about politics in the first place a decade ago. This is because I believe it is the biggest issue of our time due to its large-scale and accelerating effects.

Last month, I completed my Open University Master's in Global Development - specialising in environmental sustainability. This has helped me identify vested fossil fuel interests as the biggest barrier to tackling the climate crisis.

I've worked at several ethically-minded independent Exeter food places, from co-manager of the Real Food Store, to Aris Healthy Life, and now Daily Bowl. This is because I want to make a difference for the environment in what I do.

I have also spent three weeks working on a permaculture smallholding farm. Permaculture incorporates principles from nature, such as variety and regenerative principles, into farming practices.

I chose the Lib Dems a decade ago because of their impressive environmental record. A key strategy Lib Dems demonstrated in government is providing a stable, favourable environment for green investment. Through, for example, the Green Investment Bank, renewable energy production more than tripled 2010-2015, but has since collapsed without the Lib Dems (see: https://ft.com/content/98959cce-4ed8-424b-838f-c868d7c89314).

So I and the Lib Dems place tackling the climate crisis at the centre of all our policies. We recognise green investment, lower bills, and our prosperity go hand in hand. Lib Dem environmental policies are ambitious, just, and practicable. Economic credibility means they provide effective pressure on other parties, limiting any potential reasons preventing their adoption.

Lib Dems will rapidly shift investment from fossil fuels to renewables and insulation. It was our research that uncovered there's been £20bn more financial support for fossil fuels than renewable energy since 2015! (https://theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/09/fossil-fuels-more-support-uk-than-renewables-since-2015). We will drive a ten year emergency insulation programme, as Britain's homes are the worst insulated in Western Europe. Lib Dems will provide free retrofits for low-income households and generous tax incentives to drive emissions reductions and end fuel poverty. We will require solar on all new homes, allow onshore wind energy again, and place a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants that will lower our bills. I have also been campaigning for a clear framework for renewable energy community discounts, which will limit any potential opposition to projects. All this will help reach the realistic target of 80% renewable power by 2030. I'm also actively vocal against new oil and gas: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gQPKNLGT2cZh5mhk.

The climate and nature crises are intertwined. As a result of human-driven global heating, we are at the start of a period of mass extinction. We need to protect and enhance nature, to have a healthy natural world, if we are to have any chance of tackling the climate emergency. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and ranks bottom in Europe for nature-connectedness (https://theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/23/britain-ranks-bottom-in-europe-for-nature-connectiveness).

I am vocal about improving access to nature, with a prime example being the Dartmoor right to wild camping campaign (https://x.com/WillAczel/status/1749191873707610484?t=SfJuLU1CrtGkuojkEPYBCg&s=19). More free and accessible nature, including the right to roam, is as important as ever to improve nature connectedness, hence caring for our heart-wrenchingly depleted environment..

Lib Dems will plant at least 60 million trees and double nature by 2050, supporting farmers in the process. The EU provided many environmental safeguards, that are now under threat from our government, such as relating to pesticides, pollution, and protecting natual resources.

Lib Dems are the only party with the strong, robust action plan needed to end the sewage scandal: https://facebook.com/share/r/PksG8Ya68gpEVcVn.

Our transport system is some of the worst in Europe too. It is our single biggest contributor to CO2 emissions. I already have a record of action trying to improve this: getting stuck in with surveying and writing letters to Stagecoach and Devon County Council to get bus services we can rely on (https://facebook.com/share/v/cA9AgVbc6dCsaev4).

We need a government that cares about trains too. As someone who's been interrailing three times, I certainly care! Lib Dems will freeze rail fares, invest, regulate, and rapidly ramp up electrification - reducing air and noise pollution, improving reliability, speeding up journeys, and reducing running costs hence ticket prices.

You can find more of our ambitious but practicable environmental policies here: https://libdems.org.uk/green.