Tag Archives: climate and nature bill

Lib Dems call on Starmer to back landmark climate bill

A group of Liberal Democrats have called on Keir Starmer to back Lib Dem MP Roz Savage’s Climate and Nature Bill when it comes up in Parliament on 24 January. In a letter signed by 58 MPs and Peers they say:

We, Liberal Democrats, commend your and the Government’s determination to elevate the UK’s global climate and nature leadership. However, without legislation that unites our climate and nature plans, they will continue to be developed in isolation. This means your clean energy and nature restoration ambitions may fail—and, equally worryingly—may make both crises worse.

There is, however, a golden opportunity for you and the Government to showcase cross-party consensus on the need for an integrated approach to the climate-nature crisis. The CAN Bill would deliver a joined-up framework, ensuring that Britain meets its international commitments for climate and nature, as part of expediting your plans to build a nature positive, net zero economy.

Roz’s Bill should have a five hour debating slot on 24th January.

The Climate and Nature Bill is guaranteed a five-hour Parliamentary debate during its second reading on 24 January 2025.  It already has the backing of some 250 Parliamentarians, including Sir Ed Davey, Carla Denyer, and Zac Goldsmith. It enjoys the support of 10,000s of members of the public, more than 1,100 businesses and organisations, as well as 1,000 climate and health experts

High-profile endorsers include Co-Operative Bank, The Body Shop, Oxfam, Save British Farming, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Ecotricity, The Wildlife Trusts and Triodos Bank.

Unless this Bill gets Government time, it is unlikely to become law. This would be a very easy win for Starmer and Labour so let’s hope they see sense.

The letter in full is published below:

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Pippa Heylings MP writes… We can, and we will, make Roz Savage’s Climate and Nature Bill a reality

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.

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Roz Savage to introduce Climate and Nature Bill

We have an extraordinary group of new MPs, bringing a wide range of experience to our Parliamentary team. But one of them is truly unique. Dr Roz Savage, MP for South Cotswolds, is the only woman in the world who has rowed solo across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. She holds four Guinness World Records.

And Roz is also very lucky because she drew the third ticket in the private members bill ballot. Not surprisingly she is very interested in environmental issues, so she will be reviving the Climate and Nature Bill, which had previously been proposed on two separate occasions by Caroline Lucas (Green) and by Olivia Blake and Alex Sobel (both Labour). She believes that the time is now ripe to gain wide support in the Commons.

Roz said:

It’s a great honour to have been drawn third in the private members’ bill ballot, but it’s also been a huge challenge to choose the subject of my bill. My postbag and inbox have been bursting with hundreds of messages from constituents asking me to support important and worthwhile causes.

However, the largest number of letters urged me to champion the Climate and Nature Bill, which is also a subject dear to my heart, having been an environmental campaigner for the last twenty years, and having pledged my support for the CAN Bill back in April. Given that a great number of my constituents clearly care deeply about the climate and ecological crisis, as do I, my choice was clear. I am delighted to have this opportunity to potentially get the CAN Bill passed into law.

When rowing across the ocean, I came face to face with the immensity of the natural world—and the vulnerability of our human race. To stand the strongest chance of tackling the interconnected climate and ecological emergency, the UK needs a joined-up, science-led strategy. A bold, new, long-term plan to restore our depleted wildlife, and deliver the just transition we need. That means green jobs, clean air and rivers, cheaper bills, and a nature-rich UK.

I’m proud to be leading the campaign for the ‘CAN Act’ and I’m looking forward to working with MPs from across the Commons to pass this Bill, and put climate and nature at the centre of cross-government missions.

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Creating a fairer, greener future for all

The climate-nature crisis remains an existential threat to the future prosperity, wellbeing and security of the UK. We can see its effects all around us—from last Monday being the hottest day ever recorded, to the deafening silence of birds and butterflies across our once wild isles. The recent Climate Change Committee report shows that the UK Government is off track to meet its 2030 target (to cut emissions by 68%) and that only a third of current plans are credible.

Our natural environment is being destroyed at pace. The last State of Nature report set out the drastic declines in our native biodiversity, stark reductions in our woodland cover, and the collapse of many of our precious species. Nature is deeply intertwined with our climate. They’re two sides of the same coin. When viewed holistically, it’s clear that we cannot solve the climate crisis without also solving the nature crisis, and vice versa. 

The science is crystal clear. We’re now operating on a knife edge of breaching our Paris Agreement obligations to do all we can to limit “global boiling”. With June marking the twelfth consecutive month of global temperatures of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it’s clearer than ever that the (already small) window for action is rapidly closing. We must act as fast and as fairly as possible to get the world on track for a liveable future.

The new Labour Government has inherited one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. A country where 75% of our rivers pose a serious risk to human health—a country where an ever changing climate is damaging our health, prosperity and security. But the mandate given by the British public on 4 July is clear. We need a new approach that puts climate-nature action at the heart of our decision-making. We Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for a fairer, greener future; a UK where everyone can benefit from—and help shape—the huge opportunities of the just transition to a zero carbon, nature positive future. 

Crucially, we recognise that our once world leading legislation no longer meets the challenges of today. The Climate Change Act was passed seven years before the 2015 Paris Agreement was agreed—and our biodiversity targets don’t align with the 2022 Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in Montreal. As internationalists, we believe that the UK now needs to lock these global commitments into law. 

As MPs, we have a duty to send a strong message to the public, civil society and businesses that we’re serious about improving their lives and livelihoods. In the years ahead to 2030, we must reverse biodiversity loss and we must rapidly reduce our emissions via a new, joined-up approach. Small, incremental changes won’t cut it; especially given the last Government’s inaction, delays and U-turns.

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