Stratford election candidates asked to show their green credentials with Bill pledge

CANDIDATES standing in the general election in Stratford-on-Avon have been asked to show their green credentials by pledging to support the Climate and Nature Bill if they are elected.

Fifteen of the district’s environmental groups and eco churches have written a joint letter to the candidates calling on them to back the Bill.

The letter states: “Like the 2008 Climate Change Act, the Bill is a non-party political motion, and is already supported by over 130 MPs, from parties across the political spectrum.

“We would like our next MP to join them, and we urge you to commit to doing so now, to help us and our followers decide on how we will vote in the upcoming election.”

The Climate and Nature Bill has been written – and supported – by many leading scientists and experts, as well as leading organisations such as the Climate Coalition, Friends of the Earth, the Wildlife Trusts, Oxfam and the CPRE.

Its aim is to improve on existing legislation, including the Climate Change Act and the Environment Act, by committing the government to:

a) taking measures to give the best chance of limiting temperature rise caused by emissions to 1.5°C, and

b) reversing (rather than merely halting) the decline of nature.

It adds that this would require quicker emissions reductions, the phasing out of fossil fuels and measures to address climate change do as little damage to nature as possible.

Stephen Norrie, chair of Stratford Climate Action, one of the signatures to the letter, said: “The legislation is important as it would require action at the level scientists say is necessary to limit the damage climate breakdown will cause.

“It acknowledges that fossil fuels are the problem, and so cuts out the loopholes that are allowing politicians to continue to pretend that we can maximise fossil fuel extraction from the North Sea.

“It puts a strong emphasis on the recovery of nature, and links this to the climate crisis, which is the biggest threat to the natural world. If enough MPs back it, it will become law, so it’s important our next MP is one of them.”

Jane Mills, deacon for South Warwickshire Methodist Churches, added: “If we don’t act now there will not be another chance. We must prioritise measures that can bring about the change required, or the future is bleak.

“It is clear that those who suffer most from the effects of the changing climate are amongst those who have done least to cause it.

“We need to recognise both this injustice and our responsibility, as one of the richest and historically most polluting nations, to act. We should do this for ourselves, for the protection of the natural environment we love so much, for future generations and for the immediate help of those worst affected.”

Some scientists believe that if the planet heats by more than 1.5°C over pre-industrial temperatures, it could trigger irreversible transformations, such as the undermining of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets, and the transition of the Amazon rainforest to grassland.

The signatures to the letter include groups and churches in Stratford, Bidford, Henley, Snitterfield, Shipston, Clifford Chambers and Welford.