Medical leaders urge ministers to end UK’s fossil fuel dependence

Medical bodies and hundreds of UK doctors have joined forces to protest against climate damage by calling for an immediate halt to new oil and gas exploration.

In a joint letter to the prime minister they also urge the government to end the country’s dependence on fossil fuels to tackle the climate crisis and fuel poverty, citing the health impacts of both, and to deliver a clean future with affordable energy for everyone.

The letter is signed by institutions with a combined membership of more than 250 000 including the BMA and the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Paediatricians, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Psychiatrists, as well as more than 600 individual health professionals.

The doctors warn that the UK is facing a crisis of both …