It is fantastic how much the people in the UK care about protecting our environment, tackling climate change, leading the world in the ‘Green Revolution’ and setting out future measures for sustainable living and nature's recovery. You may be interested in reading my thoughts on other campaigns related to this issue –
Mims Davies MP Statement on Literary Landscapes | Mims Davies
Mims Davies MP Statement on UK Climate Commitments | Mims Davies
Mims Davies MP Statement on Protecting the Environment & Rewilding | Mims Davies
The Climate and Nature Bill - which was first introduced in Parliament in 2020 by Caroline Lucas MP - has been put forward as a Private Members' Bill on several occasions. In this Parliamentary session, Dr Roz Savage MP has introduced the Bill and it is scheduled to have its Second Reading on Friday 24 January 2025.
While the Bill has been introduced on previous occasions, the text of this version of the Bill Dr Savage is putting forward is yet to be published. Therefore, I am unable to take a position until I have seen the full text. Please know, I will follow any developments closely and I hope the Bill is published at the earliest opportunity.
More broadly, I am proud of the previous Conservative Government’s progress achieving net zero by 2050. Due to the actions taken by the last Government, the UK became the first major economy in the world to halve emissions. Likewise, the UK now has some of the most ambitious carbon emission targets in the world, aiming for a 68 per cent cut by 2030 compared to the EU's target of a 55 per cent cut. The last Government also succeeded in increasing our renewables electricity generation from just 7 per cent in 2010 to nearly 50 per cent by February 2024.
The last Government had a clear strategy and it implemented it. For example, it passed the Environment Act 2021 which puts in legislation clear statutory targets for the recovery of the natural world in four priority areas: air quality, biodiversity, water and waste, and includes an important new target to reverse the decline in species abundance by the end of 2030.
I am yet to see the same ambition put forward by the new Government.
I am also aware of a petition to run a public information campaign on the climate crisis to which the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has given this response:
There is already a large volume of publicly available information on climate change, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Meteorological Organisation, the Met Office and other academic institutions, as well as the government’s ‘Climate Change Explained’ website and media sites such as the BBC. At the same time, it remains important for us to partner with trusted voices to enable us to deliver a wide-reaching net zero transition and ensure diverse perspectives are considered. We are currently scoping the right way of communicating this to the public and are considering all options, including a public information and behaviour change campaign.
Pleased be assured I will be following developments on this issue closely on behalf of my constituents.
