Stroud constituency is a key battleground in Thursday’s election. Labour MP David Drew took the seat with just 687 votes in 2017 and is facing competition from the Conservative candidate Siobhan Baillie. The constituency sits on the fringes of the Cotswolds but at the core of Britain’s environmental movement: it’s the home of Extinction Rebellion, a thriving permaculture community, and the world’s first vegan football club.

It’s no surprise then that the Greens have thrown everything behind taking the seat. The problem? They sit on just 7% of the vote in recent modelling by YouGov that takes data seat by seat, with Drew on 43% – losing to the Tories by just 4%.

To “win” the seat, the Greens are on the attack. They have fielded a strong candidate in Molly Scott Cato, the first Green MEP for the South West and locally respected across partisan lines. Rather than unite against Baillie to deter the climate nightmare of a Tory majority, the Greens have spent most of their time trying to convince voters that they, not Labour, are the only sensible vote for those concerned about the planet.

In an election that has hinged on truth, the Green Party have not come away guilt-free. Dodgy leaflets have been put through doors that claim Scott Cato can “unite the Remain vote” and win Stroud on the backs of the European election results. Similar tactics seem to be repeated nationally, with questionable literature distributed in Bristol West and Brighton Kemptown. The Greens risk playing party politics with our environment, putting point-scoring before planet.

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures California In this decade, humans have become ever more aware of climate change. Calls for leaders to act echo around the globe as the signs of a changing climate become ever more difficult to ignore Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Athens, Greece Fierce wildfires have flared up in numerous countries. The damage being caused is unprecedented: 103 people were killed in wildfires last year in California, one of the places best prepared, best equipped to fight such blazes in the world AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Redding, California Entire towns have been razed. The towns of Redding and Paradise in California were all but eliminated in the 2018 season AP Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Athens, Greece While wildfires in Greece (pictured), Australia, Indonesia and many other countries have wrought chaos to infrastructure, economies and cost lives AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Carlisle, England In Britain, flooding has become commonplace. Extreme downpours in Carlisle in the winter of 2015 saw the previous record flood level being eclipsed by two feet AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Hebden Bridge, England Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has flooded repeatedly in the past decade, with the worst coming on Christmas Day 2015. Toby Smith of Climate Visuals, an organisation focused on improving how climate change is depicted in the media, says: "Extreme weather and flooding, has and will become more frequent due to climate change. An increase in the severity and distribution of press images, reports and media coverage across the nation has localised the issue. It has raised our emotions, perception and personalised the effects and hazards of climate change." Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Somerset, England Out west in Somerset, floods in 2013 led to entire villages being cut off and isolated for weeks Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Dumfries, Scotland "In summer 2012, intense rain flooded over 8000 properties. In 2013, storms and coastal surges combined catastrophically with elevated sea levels whilst December 2015, was the wettest month ever recorded. Major flooding events continued through the decade with the UK government declaring flooding as one of the nation's major threats in 2017," says Mr Smith of Climate Visuals Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Weather has been more extreme in Britain in recent years. The 'Beast from the East' which arrived in February 2018 brought extraordinarily cold temperatures and high snowfall. Central London (pictured), where the city bustle tends to mean that snow doesn't even settle, was covered in inches of snow for day PA Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Months after the cold snap, a heatwave struck Britain, rendering the normally plush green of England's parks in Summer a parched brown for weeks AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures New South Wales, Australia Worsening droughts in many countries have been disastrous for crop yields and have threatened livestock. In Australia, where a brutal drought persisted for months last year, farmers have suffered from mental health problems because of the threat to their livelihood Reuters Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Tonle Sap, Cambodia Even dedicated climate skeptic Jeremy Clarkson has come to recognise the threat of climate change after visiting the Tonle Sap lake system in Cambodia. Over a million people rely on the water of Tonle Sap for work and sustinence but, as Mr Clarkson witnessed, a drought has severley depleted the water level Carlo Frem/Amazon Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Addis Ababa, Ethiopia In reaction to these harbingers of climate obliteration, some humans have taken measures to counter the impending disaster. Ethiopia recently planted a reported 350 million trees in a single day AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Morocco Morocco has undertaken the most ambitious solar power scheme in the world, recently completing a solar plant the size of San Francisco AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Electric cars are taking off as a viable alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles and major cities across the world are adding charging points to accomodate AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Purmerend, The Netherlands Cities around the world are embracing cycling too, as a clean (and healthy) mode of transport. The Netherlands continues to lead the way with bikes far outnumbering people Jeroen Much/Andras Schuh Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Xiamen, China Cycling infrastructure is taking over cities the world over, in the hope of reducing society's dependency on polluting vehicles Ma Weiwei Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Chennai, India Despite positive steps being taken, humans continue to have a wildly adverse effect on the climate. There have been numerous major oil spills this decade, the most notable being the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Amazon rainforest, Brazil More recently, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest were set alight by people to clear land for agriculture AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures California This decade may have seen horrors but it has led to an understanding that the next decade must see change if human life is to continue Getty

The IPCC report shows there is little time left. We have 10 years to keep global warming to 1.5°C. That’s just two parliaments. The country is facing five years of a Conservative majority government whose climate policies are criminally negligent and whose continued support for North Sea oil alone undermines any other anaemic manifesto promises.

Labour are the only party capable of implementing a radical agenda in government. At this critical juncture, they can match and deliver the Greens’ two ambitions of a second referendum and a Green New Deal. The party has plans to rapidly de-carbonise through a national overhaul of our energy system, 1 million green jobs to ensure a just transition, fighting for an international law of ecocide and a grassroots restoration of the natural world.

Many Greens are proud of their influence on Labour’s environmental awakening, so why not reap the rewards of a Labour government?

Whether it’s this election or the next, it will be one of the major parties who can enact fundamental change and, critically, Labour have shown themselves to be a force that is amenable to popular pressure. Labour for a Green New Deal, a grassroots campaign, has spent the last year fighting to scale-up the party’s climate ambition, with significant success. The movement will continue to do so beyond this election. As demonstrated by Extinction Rebellion, Labour responds to activist’s concerns, while the Tories crack down on them.

The Green Party deserves credit – they have raised the alarm about the climate crisis before it was politically expedient to do so. But they no longer monopolise the space for action – yesterday, Friends of the Earth ranked Labour the strongest party on climate and nature. Particularly in seats like Stroud, Green-leaning voters should be queuing up to facilitate a Labour government, rather tha

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Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent eventsn usher a Tory into power. This is a climate crisis after all – every vote and every seat counts.

The Greens have also made a Remain alliance with the Liberal Democrats, whose climate targets are painfully inadequate. Of course, Remain and climate action are not a zero-sum game, but this seems a flimsy premise for teaming up with a party whose idea of climate policy is a plastic bag tax bought at the expense of benefit cuts. The Green candidate in Filton and Bradley Stoke was so astounded by this unlikely pact that he stood down and threw his weight behind Labour.