Climate change debate attended by just handful of Tory MPs two days after UK's hottest ever winter day

It comes after Theresa May accused children protesting global warming of wasting teachers' time

Only a handful of Conservative MPs attended the first climate change debate in two years in the Commons, in the week that saw the UK experience its two hottest ever winter days.

As the debate on the UK's progress towards a zero carbon emissions future began on Thursday afternoon, a number of MPs from both sides of the aisle were seen leaving the chamber.

Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP who secured the debate, said she did so after being inspired by the thousands of schoolchildren who went on strike last month over the world's failure to adequately tackle the emergency.

Despite the issue being hailed “incredibly important” by energy minister Claire Perry, at times there were as few as 10 Tory MPs sat on the government benches.

The apparent indifference among MPs came just days after Theresa May accused protesting children of wasting lesson time and increasing teachers’ workloads.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton, called on Parliament to adopt measures similar to America's proposed Green New Deal, noting the record-high temperatures being set both in the UK and across the world, including Australia.

“To be clear, this is not normal. We are not in a time of normal. The implications of these seismic changes for the future of life on Earth and human civilisation are profound,” she said.

Chair of the environmental audit committee, Labour MP Mary Creagh, said the UK needed to reduce its emissions to net zero “rapidly and at scale in every area of our economy and in every area of our lives”.

“Securing a sustainable future for the planet and our children is a responsibility that we simply cannot ignore.

“I welcome the chance to discuss this issue, because we have spent far too long discussing Brexit in the Chamber and not enough time discussing the thumping alarm that is being sounded all around us on our planet.”

The debate comes just months after the United Nations warned the planet has just 11 years to cut carbon emissions in half in order to avert environmental catastrophe.

The government has recently asked its climate advisers to investigate what must be done to cut emissions to zero.