On Wednesday 16 October, Peers for the Planet and the University of Exeter published a new guide to climate change , featuring contributions from world-leading scientists - to help UK parliamentarians understand and respond to the urgent climate challenges we are facing. A reception to celebrate the launch of the guide took place in the Churchill Room in the House of Commons, which brought together over 150 parliamentarians across both houses and political divides, as well as

A guide to help parliamentarians understand and respond to the challenges of climate change will be launched today in the House of Commons.   The Parliamentarians’ Guide to Climate Change   contains contributions by world-leading climate experts to provide policy makers – at the national and local level – with an overview of key areas of climate science.   The authors stress the need for urgent action and call upon politicians to work across party lines to tackle the climate

Last week Peers were joined by experts from the water sector for a briefing on the drivers of water pollution, the wider regulatory landscape and how measures proposed in the Water (Special Measures) Bill , could be improved.   Whilst recognising that the Bill is part of a broader process to address water pollution and regulatory failures through a government review, contributors outlined a number of proposals to strengthen provisions in the Bill.    Peers heard that more can

Yesterday, P4P Chair, Baroness Hayman chaired several sessions of an online conference on onshore wind. Watched by over 100 attendees and featuring academic experts, local leaders and industry representatives, the event explored the regulatory climate and future prospects for UK onshore wind. The event was arranged by the Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum and saw contributions from leaders at SSE, the Wildlife Trust and Lincolnshire County Council among othe

P4P Vice-Chair Baroness Rosie Boycott was interviewed by Isabella Kaminski on her ongoing campaign for a new crime of ecocide to be recognised to target those causing severe environmental damage.   The article covers Baroness Boycott’s broader focus in parliament on the environment as well as her current work on a report on ultra processed foods as a crossbench member of the  Lords’ Food, Diet and Obesity Select Committee .   Baroness Boycott's work on ecocide includes a priv

A group of cross-party Peers urged the Government to integrate UK climate and nature targets into the work of the body responsible for the UK’s seabed during the second reading of the Crown Estate Bill in the House of Lords . The Bill aims to reform the Crown Estate by providing it with new powers to borrow and invest in activities which the Government says  will support wider departmental objectives, such as expanding renewable offshore wind energy and port infrastructure.

Last week the House of Lords held a series of debates  on the King’s Speech following the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17 July.   Cross-party peers scrutinised the government’s proposed legislative agenda across six days of debates organised by thematic areas. Strong representations from cross-party peers and P4P supporters ensured climate and nature issues featured throughout the debates and that ministers were pressed on how their plans would deliver on decarbon

Members of the House of Lords were successful in their attempts to table Private Members Bills (PMBs) which would improve our environmental legislation in the forthcoming session of Parliament.   Several Peers for the Planet Peers, including Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, Lord Krebs and Lord Harries of Pentregarth were successful in the ballot which was drawn on Friday 19 July . The result means, cross-party peers will have several opportunities outside of the Government's

Bills announced in today’s  King’s Speech  today offer exciting opportunities for legislators to make faster progress on putting in place the policies needed to meet out climate and nature targets.  With such a big agenda for climate action, policy-makers will need to consider issue of fairness and how costs are distributed at every step of the way. Below is an initial overview of relevant bills. THEMES The Speech set out 39 pieces of legislation. In the official documents  a

P4P Chair Baroness Hayman (pictured) has campaigned for the de-facto ban to be lifted for several years. Today the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves has confirmed the de facto ban on onshore wind developments in England will be lifted , placing onshore wind on the same footing as other energy developments in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and committed that the Government will consult on bringing onshore wind into the nationally significant infrastructure projects reg

Although Parliament has now been dissolved, following the calling of an election for 4th July, peers remained active up to prorogation on efforts to improve a number of Bills before the House. One of those Bills – which has since fallen – was the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, originally promised by Government to curb country-specific boycotts by public bodies. Whilst the reach of the Bill went much wider than environmental concerns, peers table

The framework for impartiality and accuracy for broadcasting has been in place since the 1950s, but in the past 10 years evidence from...