CIEEM Joins 42 Other Organisations in Urging Leadership Candidates to Prioritise Climate and Environmental Emergency

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A group of 43 organisations wrote to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leadership candidates urging them to prioritise the climate and environmental emergency and commit to ramping up policies and investment.

The organisations represent a wide cross-section of society, including CIEEM, Green Alliance, Women’s Institute, CPRE and Arboricultural Association and a range of other environmental NGOs.

The letters reiterated the demands of the recent ‘Time is Now’ lobby, organised by Greener UK and The Climate Coalition, which include:

  • A flagship Environment Act with ambitious legally binding targets for healthy air, clean water, thriving wildlife, waste and plastic pollution, and our global footprint. We need a powerful, independent watchdog to make sure these are achieved;
  • Rapid action to phase out fossil fuels and slash emissions, to get us on track to net zero by 2045 at the latest, following your party’s welcome commitment to this target;
  • Scaled up investment to tackle the climate and environmental emergency, fairly and democratically. This should include government spending of at least 2% of GDP per year for climate action and restoring nature, both at home and abroad, starting now; and
  • Putting environment and climate action at the heart of the UK’s international agenda. Accelerating progress towards achieving global goals on climate change, nature protection and restoration, and sustainable development at the three major UN summits in 2020 and the G7 in 2021. And ruling out signing trade deals with countries that are not implementing the Paris Agreement or upholding human rights and environmental standards.

The letters are available at our Resources Hub.