Protection of the Climate Change Act

That this House condemns the Opposition’s proposals to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008 and upend the scientific and political consensus on the need to tackle climate change; understands that meeting the UK’s legally binding net zero target by 2050 is our best chance to limit warming to 1.5°C and avoid the worst climate impacts for future generations; is concerned by the worsening impacts of climate change in the UK, including heatwaves leading to more than 1,000 avoidable deaths this summer, escalating food prices due to one of the worst harvests on record, and the growing threat to nature from extreme heat, drought, flooding and rising sea temperatures; reasserts the importance of halving energy bills over a decade by breaking the link between volatile gas prices and electricity costs; further understands that reliance on fossil fuels makes the UK vulnerable to energy price shocks and despots like President Putin; recognises that the green economy is critical to the UK’s economic success and is worth over £83 billion, employing nearly a million people, and growing three times faster than the economy as a whole; is deeply concerned by the damage to business, investment certainty and the UK’s industrial future that the removal of the Climate Change Act 2008 would create; rejects the idea that keeping Britain dependent on imported fossil fuels is good for economic growth or reducing energy bills; and urges all political parties to support action to tackle climate change, restore nature and protect the planet for future generations.