Hundreds of nuns, monks and clergy will be marching on Westminster to ask MPs to strengthen the Climate Change Bill and ‘kick the carbon habit’ for the sake of the poorest in the world.

Churches have welcomed the final political consensus reached at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia but are urging national governments to show greater leadership to save the planet from the destructive force of global warming.

International development agency Christian Aid has accused the British government of short-sightedness after the world’s first Climate Change Bill was published containing targets widely condemned as inadequate.

A Catholic aid agency has welcomed plans for the Climate Change Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech yesterday, but says standards within it must be higher than currently being proposed.

Supporters of I Count, the campaign of Stop Climate Chaos, have visited Downing Street to hand in 150,000 petition cards demanding the UK Government does all it can to tackle climate change.

The Environment Secretary’s failure to commit to a higher target for binding emissions cuts by 2050 risks undermining international efforts to find a solution to this growing global threat, Christian Aid has said.

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Miliband’s draft Climate Change Bill, published on 12 March, which aims to enforce a 60 per cent cut in UK CO2 emissions by 2050, is a significant step in the right direction – but will require many amendments as it goes through consultation and Parliament, Christian Aid said today.