THE Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said today it cannot stand by and watch climate breakdown continue following the publication of a landmark report this week. 

On Monday the experts of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that humans were unequivocally driving catastrophic levels of global warming, with the impacts of rising greenhouse gas levels already being felt through heat waves and wildfires worldwide. 

The FBU said that firefighters on the front line of the climate crisis have seen the planet breaking down daily. 

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “We see the effects of climate change every time we fight wildfires and save people from floods, and we will fight as hard as we can for politicians to wake up and take notice. 

“But this requires fundamental political, social and economic change across the world, and those in power have, so far, failed in the face of this immense challenge.

“Now we have a view of the bigger picture — that humanity has a final chance to act before huge devastation occurs.”