Extracts from Parliamentary Proceedings - Oct 28
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Extracts from Westminster Hall debate on Restoring Nature and
Climate Change Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab):...There are some
wonderful long-term projects such as the National Trust’s visionary
project to restore wetlands around Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire,
which has been mentioned. That project has been ably promoted over
many years by Tony Juniper, who now chairs Natural England. He is a
highly regarded environmentalist. I will mention in passing that he
was my Green party...Request free trial
Extracts from Westminster Hall debate
on Restoring Nature and Climate Change
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab):...There are some wonderful long-term projects such as the National Trust’s visionary project to restore wetlands around Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, which has been mentioned. That project has been ably promoted over many years by Tony Juniper, who now chairs Natural England. He is a highly regarded environmentalist. I will mention in passing that he was my Green party opponent in the 2010 general election in Cambridge. We spent a long evening at the count together after he had run a brilliant, vigorous and exciting campaign, which, sadly for him, secured only a few thousand votes, marginally behind me. I came in a disappointing third. I remind colleagues gently that election outcomes are not always exactly as anticipated. Tony has recently written extensively about the social and economic benefits of a nature-centric green new deal, which would unlock benefits such as public health improvements, both physical and mental. It is a programme that I strongly approve of... Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab):...To conclude, the UK has the chance to become a world leader in natural climate solutions, but we need financial commitments from the Government. Markets alone will not solve the climate and ecological crisis. Next week, assuming we will still be here, the Government have the chance to prove their commitment—actually, this refers to the Budget, which is definitely not happening next week. At some point in the near future, hopefully, if there is not an election, the Government have the chance to prove their commitment, by guaranteeing at least £2.9 billion for the new environmental land management scheme in the Budget, as called for by the National Trust the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the wildlife trusts, whenever that happens. It could also reverse the 42% funding fall as a percentage of GDP for biodiversity conservation since 2008... Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)That is why campaigners are calling the Government’s progress on this matter “painfully slow” and are calling for a new strategy to enable the Government target to be met. The Woodland Trust has called for much greater Government support and I echo that call. I am pleased that my own party has pledged to be more ambitious. I refer to the pledge made last month by my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) that a Labour Government would plant a million trees in hospitals throughout the UK, which is a very innovative and interesting way to look at things. Some departmental leads could be taken on this matter, too. I was also pleased to put my name to a letter from my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) in support of the Northern Forest. Again, that is an initiative spearheaded by the Woodland Trust that aims to plant 50 million trees in the north of England. It is said that this Northern Forest would generate around £2.5 billion of social, economic and environmental benefits, which would be at least a fivefold return on investment. That sounds like a win-win situation to me and I hope we can all support it... To read the whole debate, CLICK HEREExtracts from Second reading debate (Commons) of the Environment Bill Sue Hayman (Workington) (Lab): I begin by thanking the Secretary of State and her civil servants for meeting me last week, and by acknowledging all the work put into the Bill by civil servants, non-governmental organisations and others who have brought it to this stage. We can all acknowledge that it contains improvements on the original draft. That said, Greener UK the organisation representing environmental NGOs, has said that the Bill is “in need of significant amendment before it is capable of guaranteeing that we do not fall below current standards.” Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that leaving the European Union, or the risk of leaving it, puts many of these environmental protections at risk? Sue Hayman: It is vital that as we leave the EU all the necessary environmental protections are in place and equivalent to what we have now. The Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), has also raised concerns. He said: “Despite the Government attempting to establish a robust framework for environmental governance, it appears to have fallen short in its own ambitions.” It is clear that improvements are still needed. Nature is in a worse state than when the Conservative Government came to power. That is shown in the latest RSPB state of nature report, which found that 41% of UK species studied had declined and that no real improvements had been made since its report in 2016. Greener UK is also concerned about the Government’s commitment to resourcing vital environmental work, saying:
“For the bill to succeed, it will require a step change in
resourcing of local government, the Office for Environmental
Protection and frontline delivery agencies such as Natural
England and the Environment Agency.” |