We've got a crush this Valentine's Day

In one weeks time it will be Valentine's Day. In preparation, high street shops are already well and truly littered with naff looking teddy bears and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.

Not wanting to miss out on the flirting, we here at Oxfam have developed a crush on a rather unlikely love interest - the British Government!

Yes, that might sound a touch laughable, but let's explain things.

The problem is that love isn't the only thing that's in the air at the moment. We're pumping far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than our planet can handle. Here in the UK we need to cut our emissions at least 80% by 2050. So far, the UK Government have only committed to dropping emissions by 60% - that could stand to be the difference between climate bliss and a climate nightmare.

Our friends over at ICount are leading the way with the romantic messages. They've put together a handy little tool that lets you send a letter directly to your MP asking them to put pressure on the government to commit to 80% cuts.

Though the Valentines messages are a fun way to put a serious message across, they come at a crucial moment. Over the last few weeks the UK Government has, rather disturbingly, been considering building a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.

This would be the first coal-fired power station to be built in the UK for two decades. In just one year it would pump out over 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. According to the World Development Movement, that's more emissions than Ghana (population 22 million people) produces annually.

If Kingsworth gets the go-ahead it could lead the way to a string of new coal fired power stations being built - effectively undermining any existing attempts to meet our climate change targets, and ultimately flying in the face of the attempts to stop climate change pushing poor people further into poverty.