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 decarbonising the economy and protecting nature.
Below we outline a snapshot of some key contributions dealing with climate and nature.
Energy, the Environment and Housing (18 July)
Lord Hunt, the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero told Peers the climate crisis was already hitting the UK and that government would meet the threat through GB Energy and its 2030 clean energy mission to “build momentum” towards net zero. He said a strategic spatial energy plan would bring “more certainty” to the planning process for energy projects while the dire state of the UK’s biodiversity and waterways would be rectified by delivery on Environment Act targets and measures to tackle sewage. The need to balance developments and streamlining planning against protecting nature, the countryside and farmland was a common thread throughout the debate.
Cross-party reactions:
“The impressive progress that this country has made, of which I think we are all proud, would not have been possible without a broad and deep consensus in Parliament, and way beyond it, on the importance of tackling climate change. That consensus has, in the words of the Climate Change Committee’s report published today, “begun to fray”, but there is an opportunity for it to be rebuilt”. P4P Chair, Baroness Hayman (CB)
“Like Peers for the Planet and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, who spoke earlier, I firmly believe that this Parliament and this Government have the critical task of delivering the UK’s 2030 climate and nature targets and setting the course to 2050. Early policy decisions that drive emissions reduction will be needed alongside urgent action to adapt to physical climate risks and protect and restore our valuable natural landscape.”
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
"These current versus future trade-offs [on energy security, affordability and sustainability] will be really important. They will not be easy to resolve, but collaborative working, not siloed departmental decisions, will be needed to make sure these things can happen. As the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman and Lady Parminter, said, there will be trade-offs, but the public need to understand the rationale behind the decisions so that they can support them".
Baroness Swinburne (Con)
Education, Early Years and Health Care (19 July)
In her maiden speech, Skills Minister, Baroness Smith spoke of the Government’s aim to “tackle skills shortages” and match them to an industrial strategy although did not cover how this would be aligned with addressing climate change and net zero skills.
P4P supporter, Lord Knight, did raise the issue in the debate:
“We need a new, powerful organisation that brings together employers and unions, combined authorities and national government to ensure that the economy has the skills we need to grow, and in the places and sectors we most need, using the new, more flexible growth and skills levy. How else, for example, will we develop the skills to fuel green growth?” Lord Knight of Weymouth (Lab)
Economic Growth, Infrastructure and Employment (22 July)
From the government benches, Lord Livermore and newly appointed Lord Vallance focused on UK competitivity in science and technology, however, no mention was made of its significance in fighting climate change and delivering environmental targets. A sizeable number of Peers from all sides of the House did speak to the inseparability between net zero, the green agenda and economic growth.
Cross-party reactions:
“We will provide a constructive approach to the proposed legislation. We agree that the priority has to be to strengthen and modernise our public transport infrastructure, which has been a brake on economic social development and our efforts to tackle climate change.”
Baroness Randerson (LD)
“First, clean energy technology and other environmental technologies will be vital to the UK’s response to climate change. But that is not all they are: they are also key industries for the future in which we can compete internationally and create jobs and growth”
Baroness Young of Old Scone (Lab)
“Of course we want young people to have a decent house that they can afford and we want to do our bit for climate change, but it is perfectly possible to do this while at the same time having solid economic growth, and without destroying our precious and limited countryside.”
Lord Horam (Con)
Foreign Affairs and Defence (25 July)
Lords ministers, Baroness Anderson and Lord Coaker reiterated a manifesto pledge that the government would create a clean power alliance to “bring together a coalition of countries at the cutting edge of climate action”. Peers highlighted the need to respond to the interplay between climate change impacts, international poverty, security and migration movements in particular the risks of extreme weather. There was also broad support for the UK to take a more proactive leadership on climate change in the run up to COP29.
Cross-party reactions:
“The nexus between, on the one hand, climate change and the degradation of nature and, on the other hand, global security is so relevant to this debate. I am sad that that role is not being replicated, but there are many more areas of government where those issues need to be joined up.”
Lord Benyon (Con)
“It is good that the gracious Speech recognises the urgency of global climate change. What is needed now is not so much more warm words at successive COP meetings as the implementation of national commitments already entered into, our own included.”
Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)
“It is a national imperative that we are better prepared to respond to our increasingly volatile and unpredictable world. That includes the extreme weather events that we are increasingly experiencing as a result of climate change.”
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
“The world is in transition on climate and poverty and in conflict. If we are to be a partner of choice, which I hope the Government will seek to be, we will work with them and will wish them well on that endeavour.”
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
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