Climate Change and the Environment – It Is a Challenge For Us All To Act Now

Senior Partner Allen Creedy was in London on the 1st May to meet with other leaders of business groups, civil society and charities to express support for the forthcoming Environment Bill.  Read what he has to say about the event below.

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So we need a green industrial revolution if we are to stop the planet overheating! We will also need a revolution in the planning system if we are to succeed! This came across loud and clear at the meeting in No. 11 Downing St. yesterday, both the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for the Environment appreciate the scale of the challenge facing the UK to deliver on our commitments to the Paris Agreement . I was attending the ‘round table’ along with other leaders of business groups, civil society and charities to express support for the governments forthcoming Environment Bill. In my capacity as chair for Environment Policy at the FSB I am also a board member of the Broadway Initiative, a coalition of business trade bodies, NGO’s and civil society which are asking government to be even more ambitious in the scope of the forthcoming Environment Bill. We want the bill to set targets and integrate environmental considerations into all of the policy making of government – including the planning system. Both cabinet members were very much in listening mode – but very clearly share our concern for the the natural environment and our desire to restore it for the health of the planet and for future generations.

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After the meeting the Secretary of State dashed to the commons and debated the Labour motion to declare a climate change emergency, and in doing so called for a cross party approach to climate change – something that we raised with him and offered to support him in establishing. The government did not oppose the Labour motion and so our politicians have decided there is indeed a climate and environmental ’emergency’, today’s report by the Committee on Climate Change makes stark reading – and gives substance to the ways in which we need to change the way we live our lives; those of us in business and in the planning profession now know the scale of the challenges facing us – and the action we need to take.

As always we welcome your thoughts; you can find us on Twitter @Ethical_Partner and on LinkedIn.

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