The new ecological group Bigbury Net Zero is calling on MPs to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill which is a Private Members’ Bill tabled last year by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas MP.

It now commands all-party support, although so far including only one Conservative peer and no Conservative MPs . The Bill is following the same path as the Private Members Bill from Friends of the Earth which became law as the Climate Change Act in 2008 It is scheduled to have its (second) Second Reading on Friday October 29, though this is unlikely to take place.

The group said: “The Climate Change Act 2008 has been lauded as world-leading climate legislation.. The CEE Bill has the potential to be even more important. The only obstacle to becoming law is for large numbers of MPs to support it so that the Government must adopt it as a Government Bill and schedule time for it to be discussed and for it to progress through the system. About 118 MPs support this Bill. Is the Political Whip a morally acceptable tool for the development of Climate Change laws to save the next generations?”

8 out of 17 town/parish councils in Sir Gary Streeter MP’s South West Devon constituency - passed motions asking Sir Gary to vote for the CEE Bill. They are Bickleigh, Bigbury, Ermington, Holbeton, Ivybridge, Modbury,Newton & Noss and Shaugh Prior which represent 61% of the population of his constituency.

Sir Gary Streeter explained his refusal to agree to support the CEE Bill.

"The government has a clear plan to tackle climate change and introduce net zero and the Environment Bill will include robust short-term plans to ensure that we hit our targets"

Bigbury Net Zero pointed out The Committee for Climate Change in its July Progress Report (2021) stated that ’ ‘policies in place so far will only cut – at most – a fifth of the emissions required to hit the sixth carbon budget in 2035’; ‘if progress does not extend outside the power sector, the sixth carbon budget will be missed by a huge margin’;

They say the Environment Bill is a post Brexit catch up Bill to address environmental issues following the UK’s exit from the EU. It’s purpose has nothing to do with controlling climate change.

Sir Gary added: “I could not support any Private Members Bill that cuts across clear government policy, which has already reduced our emissions by 50 per cent since 1990”.

In the CCC Report they stated ’though territorial emissions are now ‘nearly 50%’ below 1990 levels, ‘the journey to net-zero is far from half done’. In addition the 50% reduction was partially created by outsourcing manufacturing to other countries like China. They create the goods which are then imported into the UK for consumption. By international convention they are counted as the manufacturing country’s emissions and not the UK’s. The emissions created by transporting the goods are also not counted as UK emissions. If all these emissions are taken into account the reduction figure is around 19%, not 50%.

The group believe the UK’s current policies are far from compatible with 1.5C maximum global warming. They cite plans for a new oilfield in the Shetlands (Cambo), aviation expansion in over 20 UK airports, and budget spending in March 2021 of £145M on environmental matters and £40B approximately on measures that would increase emissions.