A Bill to require the Secretary of State to achieve climate and nature targets for the United Kingdom; 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.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to achieve climate and nature targets for the United Kingdom; 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 bill, which is currently before the House of Commons following its reintroduction on 21 March 2024, would ensure that the UK Government:
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the UK's proportionate share of the remaining global carbon budget for 1.5°C
reverses the damage to the natural world by 2030
establishes a temporary climate and nature (citizens') assembly to recommend measures for inclusion in an all-of-government strategy.
In the Commons, the bill has been presented twice by (the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, and former Green Party leader) Caroline Lucas. In the 2019-21 session, the first reading of the CE Bill (Bill 172, 2019-20) took place on 2 September 2020.
In the 2021-22 session, the CE Bill (Bill 61, 2021-22) had its first reading on 21 June 2021. A second reading debate was scheduled for 6 May 2022—but the bill was not allocated time to proceed.
In the 2022-23 session, the CE Bill (HL Bill 13) was introduced in the House of Lords by (Liberal Democrat peer and former energy spokesperson) Lord Redesdale. Its first reading took place on 21 May 2022, second reading was 15 July 2022, committee stage was 18 November 2022, report stage was 25 January 2023, and third reading was 21 April.
In the 2023-24 session, the CAN Bill was reintroduced in the House of Commons by Alex Sobel MP (Labour Co-op, Leeds North West) on 21 March 2024.
Details
The bill would "require the Secretary of State to achieve climate and nature targets for the UK; 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; [and] to give duties to the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee regarding the strategy and targets."[1][2][3][4]
The CE Bill is a neat means of doing two things. It highlights how much our politicians are defying the urgency of the moment and—by presenting clear and precise proposals to drastically reduce carbon emissions and restore biodiversity in the same typefaces and official vocabulary as the laws that define whole swathes of our lives—it makes the prospect of radical action eminently imaginable.[5]
For the 2022-23 session, the CE Bill was entered in the House of Lords new session private members' bill ballot by (Liberal Democrat peer) Lord Redesdale. It was drawn 8 of 25 private member's bills. Its first reading took place on 21 May 2022 and its second reading on 15 July 2022. At its second reading, a cross-party group of peers spoke in favour, including Baroness Hooper (Conservative), Baroness Boycott (Crossbench), the Bishop of St Albans, (Liberal Democrat peers) Lord Teverson and Lord Oates, and (Green peer) Baroness Bennett. At committee stage, Lord Redesdale amended the bill to focus on its nature target in light of the agreement reached at COP15 for nations to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. The amended bill—the Ecology Bill—passed through its House of Lords stages successfully, and was handed over to Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat MP for Bath) on 25 April 2023.
Zero Hour (formerly, the CEE Bill Alliance) is a 42,000 person-strong grassroots organisation working to build support for the bill by persuading MPs, peers, mayors, councillors, local authorities, electoral candidates and political parties—as well as businesses, unions, community groups, NGOs, charities, cooperatives, and media organisations—to endorse the proposed legislation.
At the time of the CAN Bill's in the House of Commons on 10 May 2023, 132 MPs (from 11 political parties), 40 peers, 353 local authorities, and the London Assembly were backing the bill.
Over 2022, Zero Hour organised a UK-wide, all-party initiative—a Nature & Climate Declaration—to attract the support of councillors, mayors, and devolved legislators to the key principles of the CE Bill. It was supported by 2,000 politicians[14] when the Declaration was launched and debated in the Commons in November 2022, including:
Angus Robertson MSP (SNP; Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, Scottish Government), Lorna Slater MSP (Scottish Green; Minister for Biodiversity, Scottish Government), Sandesh Gulhane MSP (Scottish Conservative; Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care), Cllr Norman Hampshire (Scottish Labour; Leader, East Lothian Council) and Cllr Steve Delaney (Scottish Liberal Democrat; Depute Provost, Aberdeen City Council)
Siân Gwenllian MS (Deputy Leader, Plaid Cymru), Jenny Rathbone MS (Welsh Labour; Climate Change & Environment Committee, Senedd Cymru), Cllr Terry Mendies (Welsh Conservative; Denbighshire County Council), Cllr Gareth Morgan (Welsh Liberal Democrat; Powys County Council) and Cllr Ros Griffiths-Williams (Welsh Green; Conwy County Borough Council)
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