2025 has been a landmark year for the Climate and Nature Bill campaign. We took the CAN Bill to its Second Reading in Parliament. We made history by delivering 650 constituency letters to the Prime Minister. And we helped set up the cross-party Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus in Parliament.
But for me, as Zero Hour’s grassroots manager, the real highlight of the year has been our constituency pressure campaign. In July, thousands of campaigners headed to Westminster to meet their MPs as part of The Climate Coalition’s ‘Act Now, Change Forever’ Mass Lobby Event.
It was a huge success and it was wonderful to see so many campaigners meeting one another for the first time as they teamed up to lobby their MP on this day of action.
Seizing the opportunity, Zero Hour started linking up campaigners at a constituency level for the next stage of the lobby in the autumn. Using bespoke CAN Bill WhatsApp groups, we’ve been connecting up campaigners in each constituency. It’s allowed us to build local networks joining up passionate, knowledgeable local campaigners who are determined to be the change they want to see.
It’s been amazing to see local coalitions coming together and we’ve realised that there is unmistakable power when groups of residents lobby their MPs on the climate and nature crisis en masse.
MPs love it too! Not only do they get more bang for their buck – meeting a big group of people for 45 minutes is a really good use of their time – but they also get to make contact with groups across the constituency they might otherwise not have known about and whose expertise they really respect and value. As a result, we’ve seen MPs keen to continue these constituency meetings, even offering to host them monthly or quarterly.
The constituency groups themselves have been interesting coalitions, often with representatives from lots of different campaigns – from Friends of the Earth to Greenpeace to faith groups, farmers and the W.I. It’s been humbling to see how well people from different campaigns have worked together, meeting up in real life to plan agendas, share out tasks, and agree what to ask their MP for maximum effect.
Some of the MP meetings have been wide-ranging, with topics covering everything from protecting local chalk streams to the need to include nature targets in international trade agreements… and, of course, support for the Climate and Nature Bill.
Zero Hour has been working hard to give campaigners everything they need to make these meetings a success – linking people up on WhatsApp so they can support one another and forge new connections across the constituency; hosting presentation Zooms on why the CAN Bill matters; offering bespoke briefing packs for each MP with tailored ‘asks’ specific to them; and helping with press releases.
We’ve seen some great local press from the meetings like this and also this.
When these groups come together, the results have been astounding. Space means I can’t celebrate each of the 41 groups who have met their MP since we launched in September, but these three offer brilliant case studies below.
Newton Abbot constituency
Campaigners in Newton Abbot have had two meetings with their MP (Martin Wrigley, Liberal Democrats) since October. Building a local coalition of members and meeting up in real life to planning sessions, they have effectively lobbied their MP to join the new Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus in Parliament and re-arrange his diary so he could be at the National Emergency Briefing in November. With their MP’s encouragement they are now setting up a People’s Assembly in the new year for 100+ participants and are also reaching out to MPs in neighbouring constituencies to increase the pressure.
Annie Mitchell, one of the local campaigners, says:
‘Our children & grandchildren need to know that good people are doing all we can to avert the worst of the climate & nature emergency. That’s why it’s brilliant that a group of us from very different backgrounds have met our enthusiastic MP and together come up with a plan for more local engagement. He doesn’t have a magic wand, but knowing he’s listened, discussed, taken our ideas on board & acted accordingly is empowering, brings much needed active hope & spurs us on to do more together.’
Stevenage Constituency
A broad coalition of reps from local groups including Knebworth Environmental Group and Friends of the Earth had a wide-ranging meeting with Kevin Bonavia MP (Labour) in October. Topics discussed included school safety zones, plastics pollution, and the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan. Local resident Professor Nathalie Pettorelli from the Institute of Zoology, who is also one of the key scientists behind the CAN Bill, talked about the value of nature and the Government’s insufficient efforts on adaptation. She also invited Kevin to join the Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus (which he accepted)
Phil Skone, one of the campaigners who organised the meeting, says:
‘It was very helpful to be introduced to other like-minded local CAN Bill supporters and build our networks. It is important that we continue to build on our positive relationship with Kevin Bonavia on these critical issues. Getting his response to the National Emergency Briefing and the letter to Keir Starmer and the media heads would be valuable next step.’
Newbury constituency
Campaigners in Newbury got together to meet their MP (Lee Dillon, Liberal Democrats) in October. As a result of the meeting, Lee agreed to join the Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus; send a letter on behalf of constituents to Secretaries of State Ed Miliband and Emma Reynolds; and invited the campaigners to come to Parliament to present their thoughts on the CAN Bill to a cross-party group of MPs. Since the meeting, tireless local campaigner Deborah Philips has been inspired to push her local council to pass a CAN Bill motion; been interviewed on a podcast about the Bill; and attended the National Emergency Briefing. She also deserves a Zero Hour award for the most en-pointe nails we’ve ever seen!
Deborah Philips says:
‘We felt empowered & spiritually uplifted by meeting face to face with our local MP Lee Dillon. Our group included local farmers, clergy, and representatives from environmental groups all practicing what they preach and guided by Zero Hour’s support.’
Ever since we launched, Zero Hour has always relied on the power of grassroots lobbying to advance the CAN Bill. We like to see we are a people-powered campaign!
That’s because we know that while tackling the climate and nature crisis requires top down change across all sectors of society, the only way this can be achieved is by pressure coming from the bottom up.
Every time you reach out to your MPs and lobby them to take action, you remind them that the crisis isn’t going away… and neither are we.
Want to be part of the change? Join us in 2026 as we continue to mobilise in every constituency across the UK.
