Zack Polanski has blamed fossil fuel companies and the UK government for natural disasters such as Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica last week.
At least 30 people were killed and entire towns destroyed in the category 5 hurricane, which battered the Caribbean nation with 185mph winds.
Speaking on Sky News, Green Party leader Polanski spoke about the climate crisis facing the world, when he took aim at fossil fuel companies and the British government for not taking enough action.
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He said: “We need to hold fossil fuel companies accountable. It is outrageous that we’ve just had a hurricane in Jamaica that has killed people and caused mass devastation.
“Why are we calling it Hurricane Melissa? It should be called Hurricane Shell, or at this point it should be called Hurricane Labour.”
Polanski explained that the Labour government was still giving fossil fuel subsidies to oil and gas companies.
Polanski’s point that fossil fuel companies are to blame for the severity of the hurricane in Jamaica is backed up by science. A study from World Weather Attribution found that the atmospheric and ocean conditions that led to the rapid intensification of Hurricane Melissa were made six times more likely by climate change, the BBC reports.
Recently, UN secretary general António Guterres said it was inevitable that the target to limit global temperature increase to 1.5C would be missed.
This comes ahead of COP30 in Brazil, where world leaders will gather for their annual meeting on tackling climate change.