Last month, I had the privilege of attending COP29 in Baku and COP16 in Cali, where I took part in global negotiations on climate and nature. It’s clear to see that the global response to climate change is, at best, underwhelming. Climate change is the greatest threat we face—not only to world economies—but also to nature, which is our greatest ally in limiting its impact. And yet, we are still not acting swiftly enough to reduce carbon emissions.

For many, especially younger people, the process of COPs and their lack of concrete action gives a sense of anxiety. As it’s their futures that face the greatest risk, it’s more than understandable. Yet, I am, and continue to be, filled with hope. 

When I look back to when the UK passed the monumental Climate Change Act in 2008, I feel proud of the example it set all around the world. A lot has changed since 2008, and the impacts of our changing climate are no longer a distant story that we see on the news. They’re at home, in the UK, and are already having devastating impacts on our livelihoods—from more frequent and intense heat waves, storms, floods, droughts, coastal erosion, food supply disruption and expensive energy bills.

The good news though, is that it’s now recognised that the climate and nature crises are inextricably linked. We simply cannot solve the climate crisis without solving the nature crisis—and vice versa. Though the impacts are now worse; our actions are not decisive enough; and the Climate Change Act does not recognise the interconnectedness of climate-nature, what’s filling me with optimism?

In October, Dr Roz Savage, my Liberal Democrat colleague, and the MP for the South Cotswolds, introduced the Climate and Nature Bill as her private member’s bill. If passed, a Climate and Nature Act would ensure that the UK Government responds to both the need to reduce our carbon emissions—and to recover nature—at the same time. 

As many of our efforts to accelerate emissions reductions, particularly through technology, could unintentionally harm nature, it’s crucial that we approach these challenges in tandem, balancing innovation with nature’s restoration. To combat climate change effectively, we need our ecosystems to be healthy. For instance, the Amazon rainforest—often called ‘the lungs of the planet’—is nearing a tipping point where it risks becoming a carbon emitter rather than a vital sponge. This shift could trigger a cascade of catastrophic scenarios.

As I set out at COP29, a Climate and Nature Act would provide the hope we need right now, reigniting the UK’s leadership, and once again setting a leading example for other nations to follow. Across the globe, we could see Climate and Nature Acts that join-up nation’s responses to the intertwined crises—while, crucially, also demonstrating to younger generations that they’re being listened to—and that they must be part of the solution too. It was by bringing young people into the process that we broke the impasse before the Paris Agreement. And it’s the way we need to break it now, in the UK, by passing Roz’s cross-party Climate and Nature Bill which empowers and motivates everyone again.

More good news? The political climate of the UK has changed since July. The dismantling of the cross-party consensus on climate change by the previous Government was rejected at the last election, in what many have coined as the ‘climate election’. But the reality is that we’ve lost time. The dithering, delays, u-turns and division mean that we now have to go faster and further. 

I’m optimistic, but absolutely have to do everything we can—by bringing everybody with us—to ensure that the Climate and Nature Bill leaps the hurdle of its Second Reading vote on Friday 24 January. I’ll be there, and I’m hoping all Lib Dem MPs will be too. To try to persuade your MP to join us, why not email them today? We, Liberal Democrats, were proud to reaffirm our commitment to the CAN Bill on the steps of No. 10 this summer. And now, as the third largest party in the Commons, we’re doing everything we can to deliver the climate and nature legislation the UK so desperately needs. I’m full of hope that, “yes, we can” pass Roz’s Climate and Nature Act. Join us.

* Pippa Heylings has been Liberal Democrat MP for South Cambridgeshire since July 2024.