People are not changing their lifestyles ‘quickly enough’ in the battle against climate catastrophe, warns Gibraltar’s environment minister

A GIBRALTAR minister chaired an online meeting of 100 politicians and academics to ask them, ‘the climate is changing, why aren’t we?’.

Minister for the Environment and Sustainability John Cortes talked to members of the Global Council for Political Reform (GCPR) about the reality of climate change.

“It was a clear conclusion that lifestyles have to change, and are changing, but not quickly enough,” the government said in a statement.

Cortes is First Vice Chair of the GCPR, a group of mainly politicians founded in 2022.

During the discussion he highlighted how ‘positive climate action is beneficial, socially and economically, with GDP increasingly being considered a flawed measure of progress’, according to the statement.

Portugal’s Secretary of State for International trade Dr Bernardo Ivo Cruz, Felix Fuentebella, Philippines of the Philippines’ Department of the Environment and the Australian National University’s Mark Howden took part in the virtual meeting.

The goal of the GCPR is ‘to promote the cooperation of politicians at all levels across the world, encourage a high standard of ethics and civic discourse in political life and strive for global peace and justice’ according to its website.

The meeting comes after Cortes formed part of the British delegation at the recent COP 28 conference.

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