Union leaders urge UK to back Climate and Nature Bill

Union leaders have called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to back the Climate and Nature Bill, scheduled to be debated in Parliament on 24th January.

The #CANBill is a cross-party private member’s bill which has garnered support from more than 200 MPs, including 88 from the Labour Party.

The Climate and Nature Bill aims to address the flaws in the UK’s current environmental policies, which many experts argue are insufficient to meet the country’s obligations under the Paris Agreement to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Speaking about the bill, Giles Watts, a coordinator with Dorset Climate Action Network said: “The climate and nature bill has been around for some time and is an important effort to strengthen the UK’s attitude toward climate and nature recovery.

“The current plans we have are not sufficient to meet our obligations by 2050 for net zero carbon, nor will they meet the necessary reductions to prevent temperature changes well above the 1.5-degrees limit set in the Paris Agreement years ago.”

Giles shared his view that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

He said: “There are over 200 organisations in Dorset who are really concerned about these environmental issues… It is really heartwarming to see this level of commitment in Dorset.”

However, he stressed that “it is not enough and not quick enough” to battle the paise that global warming is happening.

Giles said: “Dorset itself has a fantastic but fragile ecology. Any increase in sea levels will start to encroach on these delicate coastal areas… These rapid changes in the environment are damaging because nature needs time to adapt and rebalance itself.”

Highlighting current news, Giles said: “The president of America is the president of the free world, and these decisions matter everywhere.”

Giles pointed to local initiatives in Dorset, such as “The Great Big Dorset Hedge,” a project dedicated to surveying and restoring hedgerows as critical ecosystems, and the “Solar Roofs Scheme,” which encourages residents to install solar panels on their homes.