Berkhamsted Town Council supports Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill

Along with 58 other councils nationally and 110 MPs Berkhamsted Town Council formally supported the Climate and Ecology Emergency Bill (CEE) at its meeting on Monday, June 14.

The CEE Bill, formally known as the Climate and Ecology Bill, is a private member's bill of the Parliament of the UK aimed at tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

This bill, originally presented to Parliament in September 2020 and will be reintroduced during the new Parliamentary session sometime after June, is intended to enshrine in law responsibilities upon the UK Government to tackle the climate emergency beyond mere statements of intent.

Amongst its provisions the bill calls on the UK to:

(i) take responsibility for its entire greenhouse gas and ecological footprints including emissions and impacts occurring overseas arising from imported goods consumed in this country

(ii) end the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels

(iii) adhere to national, legally binding carbon budgets

(iv) ensure that the UK’s ecosystems are protected and restored using strict nature targets

(v) set up a Citizen’s Climate and Nature Assembly in order to advise on the fairest way forward to implement the necessary measures too achieve both net zero emissions and

a restoration of our nature.

Berkhamsted Town Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and, in collaboration with Transition Town Berkhamsted, is preparing to co-ordinate an event week as part of the nationwide Great Big Green Week to raise awareness of climate issues in September during the run up to CoP26 which the UK is hosting in November in Glasgow.