North Herts Council pledges support for Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill

At a meeting of the Council on 23 September 2021, Members voted to approve a motion to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE).

The bill, if passed, will require the Government to develop an emergency strategy to tackle climate change.

Cllr Steve Jarvis, North Herts Council Executive Member for Environment, said:
“We are proud to be one of many councils supporting the Bill, which is urgently needed to reverse the devastating emergency we are facing.

“At North Herts Council we are making steady progress to realise our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030 but we recognise this is just a small fraction of the work that needs to be done to really impact climate change.”

The bill before Parliament states:

• that the UK plays its fair and proper role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures;
• ensures that all the UK’s consumption emissions are accounted for;
• includes emissions from aviation and shipping;
• protects and restores biodiverse habitats along overseas supply chains;
• restores and regenerates the UK’s depleted soils, wildlife habitats and species populations to healthy and robust states, maximising their capacity to absorb CO2 and their resistance to climate heating;
• sets up an independent Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the UK’s population, to engage with Parliament and Government and help develop the emergency strategy.

Notes to editor:

Read the Council meeting and minutes

Full details of the bill are available here: https://www.ceebill.uk

The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is a Private Member's Bill that was initially presented in the UK Parliament in September 2020 by Caroline Lucas MP, along with supporting MPs from seven political parties.