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The South West voting for the Climate and Nature Bill

Saturday 25th January sees the second outing of the ECO HUB Sidmouth fortnightly sessions – taking place 11am to 1pm at the Library. All welcome – and with a focus on saving energy in our homes.

Meanwhile tomorrow, Friday 24th January sees the second reading of the Climate and Nature Bill – taking place in the Commons. All of which will affect us here in the Sid Valley and beyond:

Zero Hour is the campaign for the Climate and Nature Bill, which is a plan for a new UK law that addresses the root causes of the climate-nature crisis. In the current Parliament, Roz Savage MP is the CAN Bill sponsor, and published her updated CAN Bill on 22 January, ahead of the Bill’s Second Reading on 24 January.

This is backed by Sidmouth’s MP Richard Foord – demanding “urgent action as the UK’s nature is in crisis”:

Richard Foord MP, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Monica Harding MP.

The Celebrity chef and TV personality, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has also come out in support of the bill. The Climate and Nature Bill needs at least 102 MPs present on Friday, January 24 to be heard. If it fails to get that many MPs attending to support the Bill, it may fall.

It’s supported by MPs from across all parties – including South West Conservative MP Simon Hoare – declaring “the Climate and Nature Bill will help us thrive, not just survive”:

Supported by some 200 MPs across the Commons, 1,200 scientists and more than 1,700 businesses and organisations across the country, the Bill provides a comprehensive, joined-up approach to tackle the climate-nature crisis, and the breadth of cross-party demonstrates that the risks we face are too significant to let party political allegiances get in the way.

And all the major nature groups are behind it, with Friends of the Earth, Wildlife Trust, and Greenpeace leading calls for the PM to back the Climate and Nature Bill:

The problem is that the Labour government has so far failed to get behind the bill, with the party whip  confirming the PM ‘will not be supporting’ when it comes to the vote – with Labour MPs ordered to sink the landmark climate and environment bill. And yet Labour MPs have been called to defy the party line in the vote tomorrow.

We will see how it goes…

There will be news on the CAN at the Eco Hub Sidmouth, meeting on Saturday 25th January at the Library and also at the Sidmouth Film Society [Frida (2002)] at the Radway on Sunday 26th.

artwork by Charles Sinclair