I am delighted to be the candidate for the Green Party for the next general election.

Full statement

The Green Party is the only party addressing the climate emergency with the seriousness it deserves. It is the defining issue of this generation and if we do not drastically cut our carbon emissions our grandchildren will inherit a wrecked planet.

In 2015, world leaders in Paris agreed that to prevent widespread future famine, loss of life and more and dangerous extremes in weather patterns - we need to keep the mean temperature rise below 1.5°C. However, we have already breached this target in 2023 and global carbon emissions are still rising. The effect of El Niño last year may mean a temporary dip below 1.5°C again but the trend is upwards and this illustrates how serious the situation is.

That said, the Green Party has never been just about climate change - it is also the party of social justice – the two are inextricably linked. We need to rapidly rethink how we enable a smooth transition to a low carbon economy alongside reform of our services to create a just and fair society so I look forward to sharing our ideas on health, education, farming, housing, transport and other policy areas over the next few months.

My background is that for the last 10 years I have worked for social enterprises setting up community energy schemes and delivering domestic energy efficiency advice, but my early career was in analysis of the transmission system with National Grid.

I was fortunate to have access to a good university education, and believe that education is the key to all other aspects of a compassionate society. Without a top-class education system we will not have the engineers, doctors, nurses, and yes, wise and compassionate politicians of the next generation.