Thank you to the tens of thousands of fellow Climate and Nature Bill campaigners across the nations, who’ve finally made the Government sit up and listen.
That ministers are now listening to us, and are finally hearing the calls for science-led action from our CAN Bill champions in the House of Commons, is progress. But talk is cheap. The provisions of the Climate and Nature Bill itself were—and are—the best path to climate resilience and nature recovery.
That’s why, though we share many campaigners’ disappointment that the CAN Bill has been ‘adjourned’ to 11 July—we are grateful to the MPs who made the case at yesterday’s Second Reading—including Roz Savage, who has been a superb leader of the campaign, plus Clive Lewis, Roger Gale, Carla Denyer and others.
“Are we willing to do what is required in the long term, rather than what is expedient in the short term? Are we willing to do not what is politically possible, but what is scientifically necessary to ensure a future for our planet? The choice is ours, and the time is now. Let us be the generation who chose to save our natural world, not the generation who stood by and watched it die.”—Dr Roz Savage MP (CAN Bill sponsor)
We can’t avoid the elephant in the room, however. We are extremely disappointed that the Government didn’t offer a free vote yesterday, so that all MPs, including the 191 CAN Bill supporting MPs, could vote with their conscience.
We’re a private member’s bill campaign. Since 2019, we’ve grown a huge alliance of citizens, scientists, NGOs, unions, businesses, community groups and ambassadors. We want a Climate and Nature Act. And for this reason, though we recognise—in the face of the Government’s opposition—that the CAN Bill has been adjourned for more debate on 11 July, we also want to thank Carla Denyer for trying her best to move the Bill forward on its journey into law.
“In the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill, we heard powerful arguments about how it could be improved, but MPs voted for it to progress because there was an agreement that it warranted further scrutiny. The same applies with the CAN Bill, [which] has been going for four years, has had cross-party support throughout, [and] my position is that we [should have got] the Bill to Committee stage.”—Carla Denyer MP (CAN Bill co-sponsor)
Kicking the CAN Bill into the long grass is not what we wanted to happen. Rescheduling the debate until 11 July is not good enough as—as things currently stand—it will be too far down the list of parliamentary business to be heard. However, this is one of the mechanisms we now have to hold the Government to account; and we will need your help to push the CAN Bill up the agenda on 11 July to let it progress.
But we now have something else on the table too, thanks to the tireless ‘behind the scenes’ efforts of Roz Savage (and many others). At the end of yesterday’s debate, the Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh, promised MPs—though they’ve adjourned the debate on the Bill—that next steps will include “binding commitments” to advance the CAN Bill’s objectives. Rest assured, we will hold her to this.
And as the DESNZ Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, said via a video (after the debate), he has promised to “set to work” on the CAN Bill’s objectives—“including for legislation”—so that we can “make a meaningful difference for climate and nature”. Rest assured, we will hold him to this.
So, what’s next? We’ve worked flat out, and to be honest, we’re quite tired, but also full of gratitude—and a strengthened sense of resolve. It’s been a hectic year, and grassroots campaigners and supportive MPs have been working around the clock—since the election was called—to get us to yesterday’s historic Second Reading.
We need to reflect, plan, and coordinate how we move forward, including ahead of 11 July, but also to ensure that Mary Creagh, Ed Miliband, and the rest of the Government, take the CAN Bill’s framework forward via future legislation.
A final word of thanks. Thank you to you, and to everyone who’s been powering the CAN Bill campaign. There’s 70,000+ of us now, and too many people to thank here.
But you know who you are—whether you joined us in Westminster yesterday, donated to Zero Hour, lobbied your MP or local councillors, promoted the CAN Bill on social media or the press, or—if you’re an MP, especially our sponsor, Roz Savage, or one of the 11 co-sponsors—how you’ve worked in and out of Parliament to help us make the strongest possible case.
We know that, together, we’re ‘shifting the Overton window’ and making huge strides in doing what many thought impossible. Now’s the time to lock the science into law, and create a legally-binding, joined-up strategy for climate, nature and people.
