Bring Science to Politics and back the Climate and Nature Bill

I have written to my MP, Louise Haigh, about Tuesday’s “Bring Science to Politics” lobby and the Climate and Nature Bill.

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— Bring Science to Politics – for Climate, Nature & Our Survival (@sciencetopolitics.bsky.social) 2025-05-10T13:06:00.668Z

It’s absolutely vital for the politicians to take note of what the climate scientists are saying. We literally ignore them at our peril. I hope the lobby is a great success.

One step politicians can take is to back the Climate and Nature Bill. It’s first reading was adjourned following lack of support by Labour. It will be debated again on Friday July 11th but only 4 hours has been allocated to the debate. A Friday is when MP’s usually return to their constituencies so it is important you ask your MP to attend on that day. Is 4 hours really enough time to debate how we are going to save ourselves from climate catastrophe and mass extinction?

You can read the bill here

These Zero Hour graphics are an excellent resource and show what needs to be done.

They show for example “The Ambition Gap”, showing that our carbon targets are out of date and far from sufficient for limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C. The second shows how we as a country are ignoring most of our Carbon Footprint as emissions from goods that are imported are not counted. The third shows we are currently emitting twice our share of the global carbon budget. They then go on to look at how we are failing with insulating homes, tree planting, methane emissions, protecting nature and many more issues.

Please visit the Zero Hour website and complete the various actions, including writing to your MP.

This is what I wrote to Louise Haigh.

Dear Louise

I was hoping to come and see you on Tuesday as part of the Bring Science to Politics lobby, but unfortunately, this will not now be possible, so I am writing instead.

Our climate and natural world are in crisis. Most politicians don’t understand how dire this crisis is. Please watch this video of Prof Bill McGuire in Sheffield, setting out what dangerous times we now live in. https://tellthetruthsheffield.org/2024/10/14/climate-scientist-predicts-society-could-break-down-by-2040/ .

Scientists are risking their careers and even imprisonment in order to get the message out that we need urgent action now to tackle the climate and nature emergencies. I recently went to the book launch of Scientists on Survival and urge you to read that book which contains 25 personal stories about why scientists have become climate and nature activists. 

I’m reaching out as one of your constituents and a Zero Hour supporter because we urgently need change—now more than ever.

On 24 January, during its second reading, the Climate and Nature Bill debate was adjourned by MPs rather than brought to a close. Since that point, the Energy Secretary has stated a commitment to implementing the Bill’s ‘spirit and substance’ and to working cooperatively with its supporters to advance its goals, including through legislative action. Meanwhile, the Environment Secretary has publicly expressed his ‘disappointment’ that the Bill did not proceed to the Environmental Audit Committee—an assessment I support.

The Labour manifesto rightly identified the climate and nature crisis as the foremost global challenge of the long term. Yet, as the Foreign Secretary pointed out in his Kew Lecture, the policies designed to tackle it often remain disconnected and compartmentalised.

Currently, there is no legislation in place, nor any proposed, to unify the UK’s climate and nature strategies, leaving them to be developed in isolation. This causes ‘implementation gaps’, whereby (1) some problems are inadequately tackled by disconnected plans, and (2) solutions developed to tackle one crisis inadvertently make the other worse.

Framed around the UK’s internationally agreed targets, integrated climate and nature legislation would not only bridge the implementation gaps but also create certainty, boost investment, address market failures, and achieve policy goals—something Ministers acknowledged in their responses to parliamentary questions HL2661 and HL2677.

As the Prime Minister acknowledged at COP29 last year, the magnitude of the crisis we face is staggering and demands swift, bold action. With this in mind, I ask if you will write to the Leader of the House and the Chief Whip to request that more time be allocated to debate the Climate and Nature Bill.

Four hours of debate is inadequate for such a critical issue. Do you agree? I look forward to your response.

Graham Wroe

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