The following article was written by the Liberal Democrat Party President Tim Farron and published yesterday on the Guardian Website.

Last week Owen Paterson gave a predictable speech. He was careful to avoid complete denial of climate-change science, his analysis was laced with some fair points, but his unspoken conclusion was dangerous. He would like to believe that climate change is not as bad as “the green blob” makes it out to be. And I would really like to be able to agree with him. It would just be easier.

Because for most people including me, the heart of the climate debate is not scientific, it’s psychological. We don’t want to face up to a seemingly overwhelming truth if it’s not right in front of us. If there’s no solution, or the solutions take time to get right, then we’d rather not hear about the problem. Or the crucial climate talks coming up this week, this year and next.

Last Thursday I chose not to avoid it – I was sitting in my office with a man who experiences climate change every day. Yet it wasn’t depressing. I count myself lucky to know Voltaire Alferez, a Christian Aid partner from the Philippines. Voltaire is surprisingly upbeat for someone whose job it is to coordinate 43 organisations in a country being swallowed by the sea to persuade the Patersons of the world that climate change really is the problem of this century. He jokes, he thanks the British government for the action we’ve taken to help his country deal with climate change. He has a young baby who he is looking forward to returning home to. He is clearly proud of the beauty of his country: “We have over 7,000 islands – you should visit before they all disappear!”

For Voltaire, the heart of the climate change debate is not political or psychological – it’s practical. How do we help people adapt to a lifestyle that has already been disrupted by environmental change? It’s a practical issue in this country too. Farmers in my own constituency know that the seasons are changing. Harvest is creeping backwards.

This is mild. In the Philippines there used to be around 25 typhoons a year. There are now more than 40 – and they are getting stronger. In Kenya, Christian Aid partners are sending texts to farmers to help them cope with increasingly unpredictable weather. When you are a subsistence farmer, this practical intervention is life or death.

Despite the compromises the Liberal Democrats have had to make in government, our action has made a tangible difference. All new homes will be green, zero carbon homes from 2016. We’ve created the world’s first Green Investment Bank. Ed Davey has led internationally, as world leaders prepare to choose whether to limit their carbon emissions as much as we honestly need to.

The immediate practical action we need to take is clear. One: politicians need to keep our climate change targets reflecting the scale of the challenge we face. This Wednesday and Thursday, EU leaders will get together to agree the carbon reduction that the EU should achieve by 2030. NGOs tell me that 55% is a fair amount, and the UK government position is strong at 50%. But the deal is not even yet at 40%. The prime minister must push for an EU target of at least 40% so we still have some hope of an honest ambition.

Two: we need to help people like Voltaire and the organisations that really do reduce the health risk of climate change. The government is providing more than £3.8bn of funding to the developing world. At least £1bn of this needs to go to the international Green Climate Fund, which will open in November. We need to make sure the latest science is linked up to the latest campaigning. But that will not mean inaction.

I will be encouraging my colleagues (of all parties) to put climate change back on their to-do lists. Individually we can all take action – in more positive and effective ways than ever before. With organisations and campaigns such as For the Love of exploiting the best that the internet has to offer, we’ve got an unprecedented opportunity to speak publicly, and collectively, to turn the tide.

We’ve seen the biggest climate marches this year, worldwide. Businesses are shouting loudly about the threat to profit that climate poses. The economic and social case is clear. But the third choice, between despair and denial is overwhelmingly clear: add your voice and find the organisation that will speak it the loudest.