This summer, the climate crisis has been impossible to ignore. Across the UK, we've seen homes destroyed by wildfires, nurses fainting in overheated hospitals, trains disrupted by extreme heat and firefighters battling blazes in punishing temperatures.
In our poorly-equipped homes, many of us, especially our young, elederly and disabled neighbours have struggled. Most people in Lambeth can't afford fancy fans or expensive air conditioning units. To stay in was insufferable, but to venture out was even worse.
The scorched ground was evident in nearby Crystal Palace Park, with many people struggling to find a patch of shade to get respite from the sun. I was also aware of how many animals suffered this summer, with an extreme lack of water and food to feed themselves and their young.
This isn't a distant threat. Extreme heat, drought and wildfires are already threatening our homes, health and public services, and ordinary people in Lambeth are paying the price.
The science is clear: burning oil, gas and coal is driving the climate crisis and making extreme weather more frequent and severe. Yet while communities deal with the consequences, fossil fuel companies like Shell continue to make billions from the fuels driving the problem.
And now Shell is pushing ahead with Rosebank, one of the biggest undeveloped oil fields in the UK, while also seeking approval for the Jackdaw gas field.
After the summer we've just experienced, allowing a huge new oil field like Rosebank to go ahead would take us in exactly the wrong direction. Instead of allowing fossil fuel companies to keep profiting while the rest of us pay the price, the Government should be investing in clean, renewable energy and moving us away from oil and gas.
I'm calling on our four Lambeth MPs to speak out against Rosebank and Jackdaw and urge the Government to reject these oil and gas fields.
The Government has a choice: more fossil fuels and worsening climate impacts, or a safer future powered by renewable energy.
Cami Warren
Crystal Palace