13:20 Olivia Blake (Labour)

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the United Kingdom to achieve climate and nature targets; to give the Secretary of State a duty to implement a strategy to achieve those targets; to establish a Climate and Nature Assembly to advise the Secretary of State in creating that strategy; to give duties to the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee regarding the strategy and targets; and for connected purposes.

The double-headed climate and nature crisis is affecting people’s lives now, especially in the global south, but increasingly here in the UK as well. Just think of the climate change-triggered heatwaves in India and Pakistan, the floods we have seen worldwide and, of course, the floods and heatwaves of recent years here in the UK. There is no room for complacency and no time to waste.

Nature provides our best chance to mitigate climate change and its worst impacts, such as extreme flooding and drought. As Sir David Attenborough has shown us, nature is not a “nice to have”; it is all we have. As one of the world’s most nature-depleted nations, we must aim higher and we must do better.

We cannot solve the climate crisis without saving our key ecosystems, restoring habitats and protecting our much-loved species. The UK’s critical carbon sinks and stores, such as peatland, woodland, soils, wetlands and seas, are deteriorating, reducing their capacity to absorb carbon. In some cases, they have even become net carbon sources rather than sinks and stores. Protecting nature must take equal priority with cutting emissions.

Clause 1 contains the Bill’s apex climate and nature targets. Having a net zero date is an important marker, but we need to understand the area below the curve—in other words, how much carbon we can emit into the atmosphere before we breach 1.5°C. The Bill would limit the UK’s total carbon emissions to no more than its proportionate share of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s remaining global carbon budget for a 67% chance of limiting heating to 1.5°C.

By transitioning to a renewable energy future, we would not only end our reliance on deadly fossil fuels, but create the jobs of the future and tackle the soaring cost of living crisis at source. Bridging the ambition gap between current emissions reductions and what is needed for 1.5°C is essential if we are serious about restoring the natural world, and it could not be more urgent.

Clause 2 is focused on the development of a climate and nature strategy. It states that the strategy must produce a just transition for all, by protecting vulnerable communities and providing financial support for workers transitioning from fossil fuel and ecosystem-intensive industries into the jobs of the future. The clause contains measures that must be met in achieving the Bill’s apex targets, including accounting for all of the UK’s imported emissions, as well as those that take place on UK soil, so that the UK is not offshoring our pollution; ending the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels by the UK as rapidly as possible; ensuring that all UK policies prioritise avoiding the loss of nature; and ensuring that the UK takes account of its entire ecological footprint and all the destruction to nature caused by the production, transportation and disposal of the goods and services we consume.

From my work in Sheffield Hallam on the climate manifesto, which comprises ideas directly sourced from my constituents, I know the importance of democracy in the transition to net zero and in protecting nature. For that reason, clause 3 would provide for a representative sample of the UK population to consider expert advice and reports on recommendations for inclusion in the strategy as part of the temporary nature and climate assembly. Clause 4 contains duties on the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to evaluate, monitor and report on the implementation of the strategy. Clause 5 ensures that measures in areas of devolved competence would be agreed by the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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