October 27th 2022
Historic all-party alliance on climate and nature launched in UK
A cross-party alliance on climate and nature, encompassing all the UK nations, has been launched for the first time in history.
On November 1, UK parliamentarians will join almost 2,000 politicians from across the country in signing the Nature & Climate Declaration, organised by campaign group Zero Hour.
Derek Thomas MP (Con), Alex Sobel MP (Lab), Douglas Chapman MP (SNP) and Zack Polanski AM (Green) will lead a meeting to formally launch the Declaration.
The group will promote the need for urgent cross-party action on the climate and nature crisis and will call on the government to lead the charge at COP27 and the UN biodiversity summit COP15.
They are also demanding the UK strengthen its climate ambitions to become a world leader on the environment and to avoid the worst of the climate crisis.
The Declaration reads: ‘We agree with statements made by Ministers that we must go further to address the interdependent crises of ecosystem degradation and climate change—and that the success in building a nature positive and zero carbon country—will depend on public engagement and support.’
The all-party, all-nation alliance is urging the government to fulfil its fair share of emissions reductions, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and to deliver more ambitious and integrated environmental protections.
Other signatories of the Declaration include the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems Daisy Cooper MP, a former Minister for Biodiversity Lord Knight of Weymouth and Deputy Chair of the London Assembly Andrew Boff AM.
Zero Hour has previously developed the Climate & Ecology Bill, a proposed piece of legislation which would reverse biodiversity loss and cut emissions in line with the 1.5°C target. The bill is currently making its way through parliament.
Recently a report by the organisation found the government is off-track on delivering net zero and its Net Zero Strategy (NZS) is fundamentally flawed.