Zero hour in London saw signing of an historic Nature & Climate Declaration by leading politicians and climate campaigners.
UK Parliamentarians joined 2,000 politicians in a politically historic all-party all-nations environmental call to action, the first of its kind for the UK.
Derek Thomas MP (Con), Alex Sobel MP (Lab), Douglas Chapman MP (SNP), Zack Polanski AM (Green) lead a meeting to launch the Declaration and promote the urgent need for cross-party cooperation to tackle the climate-nature crisis now. Together, they called on the UK Government to:
Lead the charge ahead of and at the UN climate change summit, COP27 (November) and the UN biodiversity summit, COP15 (December) and
Step up and strengthen its environmental ambitions to truly become a world leader on the environment. Zero Hour’s Nature & Climate Declaration is unique in setting out a united, all-party endorsed direction of travel for Rishi Sunak’s new Administration.
The declaration calls for the UK to fulfil its fair share of emissions reductions to ensure that the global temperature does not exceed 1.5°C 2. Halt and reverse biodiversity decline by 2030, and deliver a more ambitious and integrated environmental protection and decarbonisation plan.
Oliver Sidorczuk, campaign manager for Zero Hour, said: “It was clear politicians are uniting under the banner of the Declaration. There was the palpable sense of agreement to get the UK back on track for a serious science-led climate and nature strategy. All agreed that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option and this event showed that there is agreement from cross-party MPs and Peers that we have got to work much harder and smarter to get back on track if we are serious about following the science.”
The Declaration event attracted many Parliamentarians who turned up to learn more, some came to pledge support, and others to re-iterate their support and commitment to the principles of the Declaration.
Zack Polanski said at the event; “The Declaration is a reminder of how far we have to travel but that the journey remains as important and essential as ever. The Declaration is an important reminder of the need to restore nature and keep 1.5 alive as well as a vital wake-up call that we root social justice in this fight.”
