Stop the Trans Adriatic Pipeline: Sign the Open Letter

Tell the European Commission and European public banks to pull support from the TAP, which would wreck the EU's climate targets. Sign here

What it is

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is a gas pipeline that is scheduled to be built as part of a larger chain called the Southern Gas Corridor. The pipeline aims to connect gas fields in the Caspian Sea and the Middle East to Europe, under an initiative to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The Corridor itself also consists of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline through Turkey and the South Caucasus Pipeline extension through Azerbaijan and Georgia. Scheduled for operation from 2020, these pipelines would pump 10 billion cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, and 6 billion cubic metres of gas to Turkey, every year. This pipeline would destroy Europe’s climate targets, increase energy dependence on oppressive political regimes, divert billions in funding away from democratic renewable energy solutions and have unacceptable impacts on the communities in its path.

At the time of writing, the UK is experiencing a heatwave. But we know what to expect. People go from complaining about the cold to complaining about the heat, newspapers print pictures of people crammed onto Brighton beach and small children jumping into fountains. And then it's all over and we go back to complaining about the rain again.

But hot weather can also be dangerous, even in the UK, with older people the most vulnerable. At the moment there are 2000 excess deaths attributed to summer heat each year. One study estimated that on current trends this would rise to 12,500 by 2080.

And there are parts of the world where extreme heat is even more lethal.

Waking up to a result many said could never happen, the future of the country is thrown open to new possibilities.

Young people turned out to vote in record numbers. Now politicians need to respond to those who have the biggest stake in securing a secure future on a liveable planet.

We don't know how national politics will play out in the coming days and months.