It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Ives (Derek Thomas) on securing this incredibly important debate; I was interested to hear about what is happening in his constituency.
As we all know, the need to act on climate change is urgent. Extreme weather events over the summer saw the UK endure record temperatures of more than 40°C for the first time—something the Met Office described as “virtually impossible” without human-induced climate change. Recently, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy urged the Government to get a grip on the major national security risks posed by the effects of climate change on critical national infrastructure such as that for power, transport, water and communications. Its note reported an extreme weakness at the centre of Government when it comes to tackling climate change.
Earlier this week at COP27, the UN Secretary-General gave a stark warning that humanity is on what he called
“a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”.
He said:
“We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing…our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.”
With that in mind, it is disappointing that the Prime Minister saw COP27 as something of an afterthought and initially decided not to attend, only to be shamed into a U-turn. He did go—that is something—but it was very disappointing that he had to be forced. It is so vital that the Government now address the climate emergency with real urgency. I note the Prime Minister’s statement in the House today, but I point out to the Minister that there are glaring inconsistencies in his current position. I would like her to respond to the points I am going to make.
It was the Prime Minister who, as Chancellor, introduced the energy profits levy that allowed energy companies to shield 91p of every £1 of their profits from the levy by investing those profits in fossil fuel extraction. The promotion of fossil fuel extraction instead of investment in renewables is irresponsible as we face the climate emergency—it is an insult to young people and future generations. Of course, in addition to that, the Prime Minister is still committed to the ban on onshore wind which, again, given the urgency of the emergency we face, makes no sense.
I was proud to support the Labour motion in May 2019 that led to the UK Parliament being the first in the world to declare an environment and climate emergency. It was incredibly disappointing that Conservative Members abstained on that vote. Labour’s green prosperity plan would establish a national wealth fund and GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company, to invest in the technologies of the future. The policy would create 1 million new jobs in towns and cities in every corner of the country and bring down energy bills, raise living standards and ensure that Britain shows global leadership in tackling the climate crisis.
Labour also has a clear plan to insulate 19 million homes throughout the country to help to cut people’s energy bills and emissions. Home insulation rates and energy efficiency upgrades have plummeted since the Conservative party took office more than 10 years ago.
Why have Conservative Governments decided to slow down on home insulation? We need to see a reversal of this. I urge the Minister to set out what plans they have to get the UK insulated.
I pay tribute to the Cool Places of Worship programme in Wirral, through which places of worship are taking action on climate change as part of Cool 2, Wirral’s climate change strategy. West Kirby United Reformed Church in my constituency is part of the programme and is doing some really interesting and exciting work. I congratulate the church on its recent event to share knowledge about how people can improve the insulation of their homes and tackle climate change, because it is incredibly important that that expert information is shared with people.
Recent research by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit found that poorly insulated homes will have to pay almost £1,000 more on average than others on their energy bills this winter. Why are the Government not insulating homes on the scale Labour has outlined? The nature and climate declaration that put forward by the campaign group Zero Hour calls for the Government to ensure that the UK fulfils our fair share of emissions reductions to ensure that the average global temperature increase will not exceed 1.5°.
The Government’s October 2021 net zero strategy points to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shows that
“if we fail to limit global warming to 1.5°C…floods and fires…will get more frequent and more fierce, crops will be more likely to fail, and sea levels will rise driving mass migration as millions are forced from their homes. Above 1.5°C we risk reaching climatic tipping points…meaning we could lose control of our climate for good.”
What do the Government intend to do to ensure that the UK plays its part in doing all we can to keep below 1.5°?
Turning to the attack on nature, I pay tribute to the campaign by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. We know that there is an urgent need to protect and restore nature. As the RSPB has said:
“We need immediate action from the UK Government to halt the plans which threaten our water, air, beaches and rivers. Nature cannot wait. We need the UK Government to halt their attack on nature, now.”
The chief executive officer of the RSPB said that
“this is not the time to be pushing forward with destructive legislation that will remove vital wildlife protections and threaten nature’s recovery.”
She has called for the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill to be stopped right now, for an end to the attack on nature and for the Prime Minister to set out an ambitious plan for tackling the nature and climate emergency. She is absolutely right.
The Wildlife Trusts have raised serious concerns that, through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, we could see the loss of important protections for nature, including habitat regulations. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill will soon return to the Commons, bringing with it further risks to environmental protections. The Government have an immense responsibility in the face of the climate emergency and the environmental breakdown that we are experiencing. I call on them to introduce a bold and urgent plan to address the climate emergency, to change course and to drop their attack on nature.
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