Campaigners are calling on the full support of the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament to back a newly proposed bill that has the potential to deliver “affordable energy” alongside “cleaner, greener, and wilder spaces for everyone around the UK” when it enters the House of Commons for its second reading this Friday.

The Climate and Nature Bill is a private members bill first proposed by the Liberal Democrat MP, Roz Savage and has since received wide, cross-party support. According to a recent press release, the bill is currently supported by 195 members of parliament, including 90 Labour MPs ahead of the vote it faces this Friday.

It will need 100 votes to move to the next stage.

Among its “world-leading” proposals, the Climate and Nature Bill (CAN Bill) sets out measures to strengthen Britain’s emission reduction targets, protect nature, and ensure the public have their say on the Government’s net zero and nature restoration plans.

The Bill has received the support of unions and organisations from across the UK, including from the ocean conservation and campaign body, Oceana UK and the Olympic gold medallist, Etienne Stott. A campaign to raise awareness for the Bill witnessed a team of rowers, among them Dr Roz Savage, take to the Thames and row past the Houses of Parliament last week.

The government has also been handed a series of open and public letters from all corners of the UK in support of the Bill, calling on MPs to show their support and a support for environments across the country. Among them, five Scottish local environmental and green groups, including the Calderdale Green Party, Slow the Flow, Calder Rivers Trust, and Extinction Rebellion Calderdale have been counted.

In a post to his followers on social media, Hugo Tagholm, an ocean campaigner and managing director of Oceana UK, has encouraged ministers from across all parties to back the Climate and Nature Bill and help the UK to a “greener, cleaner, and wilder future”.

“This is a bill that can kick-start the green economy; a bill that can create jobs; a bill that can help deliver greener, cleaner, wilder spaces for everyone in communities around the country; and a bill that can help secure affordable energy for households up and down the UK,” he said.

“It’s vital that all politicians, all MPs get behind this bill to deliver a more prosperous, brighter, cleaner, greener future that we all need. Get behind the Climate and Nature Bill, it’s time for action.”

The sentiments couldn’t be timelier. Column inches this week have been consumed with the surreal and severe activities from the White House where US President Donald Trump has been quick to make good on his pre-election promises to uncap limits on the US oil and gas infrastructure, repeal non-binding executive actions for electric vehicle production in the States and – critically – withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris climate Agreement.

Meanwhile, US citizens have been faced with the starker realities of climate change that includes the devastating wild fires that have been ravaging across Los Angeles this past month. 

Inside the Houses of Parliament, and the bill itself appears to have firm support from across the opposition parties. Labour backbenchers are being instructed to be in Westminster for the vote on Friday, though it is not yet clear what line they are expected to take and whether orders have been given to vote against or abstain on the bill.

Earlier this week, Government figures ordered four ministers to renege their support for the bill and cut ties with Zero Hour environmental campaigners. They include Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones and Energy Minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh. 

Campaigners say, however, that it is vital the Government actively comes out in support of the Bill, citing a “toxic cocktail of dither and delay” over the global fight against climate change.

Climate and Nature Bill sponsor, Dr Roz Savage MP, said: “The cross-party Climate and Nature Bill sets out the requirement for a science-led and nature-based strategy for Britain to mitigate climate change in a just and fair way.

“There is clear public support for boosting and integrating action to tackle the dual threats of climate change and nature’s destruction, and it is time ministers stepped up and backed our call for urgent action.”

Co-director of the environmental campaign group, Zero Hour, Dr Amy McDonnell, said: “We face a crisis of inaction on the climate and ecological emergency, with a toxic cocktail of dither and delay across the globe. The Climate and Nature Bill presents a golden opportunity to say ‘no’ to the climate deniers and conspiracy theorists. Labour surely doesn’t want to align itself with those set to be on the wrong side of history.

“With hundreds of MPs supporting the Bill, Parliament is clearly ready to act. We now need the Government to back the CAN Bill so we can take the decisive action we need in the crucial years to 2030.”

In a letter signed by over 1,000 climate scientists, academics, and medical professionals including those from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and representatives of the Zoological Society of London, supporters of the Bill have urged MPs and the current government “not to ignore the science” but instead “step up to this historic moment; the last best chance for the UK to show leadership” in steering the “course of humanity towards a future where thrive, not merely survive.”

“83% of people in the UK think climate change is a serious threat to humanity – and the same proportion say the UK Government should do more to tackle it,” it said. “This can be your defining moment: standing up for the people of your constituency, of the UK, and across the world.”

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