Alex Sobel MP: ‘We need a serious, long-term and science-led plan to tackle climate emergency’

All power to the Big Issue for championing climate and nature action across the year – including this Earth Day. What started in 1969 as a way to honour the Earth on the first day of spring has evolved into a global week of events, with millions of people taking action on everything from plastic pollution to nature-friendly farming.  

On Earth Day 2016, for instance, the Paris Agreement was signed by the US, China and 173 other countries, including the UK. The UN Paris climate accords, as they’re also known, set out the world’s commitment to limit the Earth’s rising temperature to well below 2°C (above pre-industrial levels) – aiming for 1.5°C, which is essential for a liveable future.  

The window to achieve the commitment for 1.5°C has almost closed. It remains key to tackling the climate emergency at pace, as every fraction of a degree matters in this race against the clock. But we face a dual crisis, and the other side of the coin is reversing the destruction of nature.  

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An unstable climate means the destruction of habitats and wildlife; and this, in turn, intensifies the effects of climate change which causes further biodiversity loss. We can’t solve one without the other; and it’s for this reason that we must bring climate and nature solutions together. 

We face a global threat that needs a much stronger national response. I’m doing what I can in Westminster to pressure the UK government; and I’m working hard with MPs and peers, including the Big Issue’s Lord Bird, to ensure that the UK develops a serious, long-term and science-led plan to get to the root causes of the climate and ecological emergency.  

Since 2020, Zero Hour campaigners have been calling for new legislation to join up the UK’s climate and nature plans and align them with the 1.5°C goal – and its parallel target of putting nature loss in reverse by 2030 (which was agreed by governments at a UN summit in 2022). 

It’s clear that we urgently need a new plan. One that brings people from different walks of life together; one that locks our international commitments in law; and one that involves citizens in the just transition we need to put us on the path to a zero-carbon, nature-rich future. A future of affordable, clean, home-grown energy and greater food security. A future of flourishing wildlife. A future of cleaner air, green jobs and more prosperous communities. 

I’m proud to sponsor a private member’s bill that would bring this about: the Climate and Nature Bill, which has been championed in the current parliament by Caroline Lucas (Green), Lord Redesdale (Liberal Democrat) and my Labour colleague, Olivia Blake. It’s backed by 186 MPs and peers from all main parties; alongside Sadiq Khan, Deborah Meaden, Chris Packham and 358 local councils across the country – not to mention 43,000 members of the public, and hundreds of charities, NGOs and businesses. 

The Zero Hour campaign behind the ‘CAN Bill’ was inspired by Friends of the Earth’s ‘Big Ask’ initiative: a people-powered campaign which ultimately led to the last Labour Government passing the cross-party Climate Change Act 2008 (opposed by only five MPs). 

A lot has changed since 2008. The world is warming faster than many had expected. Species, habitats and ecosystems are in peril the world over, putting humanity at ever greater risk. The last ‘Global Risks Report’ ranks biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as its dominant themes, and the UN sounded a(nother) “red alert” on global warming, warning that 2024 is set to be a record-hot year. 

Time’s slipping away. The task before us is getting harder. Now is the moment to double down. The next parliament and the next government will be in power until 2030. This is a crucial milestone where we must have turned the corner on both powering up a cheaper, cleaner renewable energy economy, and have set nature on the road to recovery to save the places we love.  

This won’t be easy, but we must rise to the challenge. The good news is that the Climate and Nature Bill offers the framework we need – and is backed by MPs from across the spectrum. What is essential is that the new intake of MPs are fully behind this legislation. And that’s where you come in.  

Zero Hour has made it easy to ask your Westminster candidates to back the bill. All you need to do is click here, enter your postcode, and add your name. I hope you do.  

I urge you to vote climate, and vote nature, when we (eventually) head to the polls. Rarely in the course of history has a general election mattered more. 

Alex Sobel is the Labour/Co-op MP for Leeds North West and the sponsor of the cross-party Climate and Nature Bill.

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