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 representatives from across academia, business and diverse sectors and civil society.
Parliamentarians attending the event were given the opportunity to speak to many of the expert authors of the guide in the room, and to meet with representatives from the scientific and academic community.
With the support of our delivery partners the Conservative Environment Network, Labour Climate and Environment Forum, GLOBE and UK100 the evening generated a genuine feeling of cross-party unity and recommitment to climate action early on in this new parliament.
If we took one thing away from the evening it was that the guide can help support decision making in this new parliament, but also that it can be a useful climate primer for those across business and wider society too. With the support of GLOBE there are already plans underway to translate the guide into other languages to extend its reach to parliaments across the world.
A final thank you to our speakers last night – who all in their own ways underlined why it is so important that we take up the call to action given to us by Professor Penny Endersby last night - to share the guide with somebody who wasn’t in the room, or who has the least interest in these issues – as they are the people we most need to convince.
“I am someone who could have really done with a document like this five years ago when I started to work on climate and nature issues. Exeter have been fabulous partners, just as they have been a fabulous part of UK soft power, bringing together more of the world’s top 100 climate scientists than any other institution on the planet. Using your power and heft to get this extraordinary group of individual scientists to put their attention to writing something short – that is never easy – and something that is accessible and at the right level, has been such an achievement”. Rt Hon Baroness Hayman, Chair of Peers for the Planet
“This is a really important document, and I do think as elected politicians we have a duty to work across the political divide on matters of such importance and impact. Because we know there is an imperative to act at speed and scale, and reports like this show us in really easily understandable terms, not just what needs to be done, but how it can be done and how we can win the arguments”. Kerry McCarthy MP, Minister for Climate, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
“This is a fabulous primer for not just parliamentarians but for businesses and people around the world, in terms of the challenges we face, but also the huge opportunity of doing the right thing. I think the reason we were able to do as much as we did at COP26 is because the world understood the UK spoke with one voice – we have political consensus and that matters. What I hope to do with you all, Conservative colleagues and with Peers for the Planet, is to ensure that political consensus continues during this parliament. Because if we can get this right, we will leave this world in a better place for future generations”. Rt Hon Lord Sharma KCMG
“You have selected yourselves to be here in the room tonight by your interest in the topic. Inevitably the colleagues who have the least interest are not in the room, and they are the people you most need to convince. So, if I could leave you with one ask and urge you to do one thing, after you’ve listened and after you’ve read - it is to share with a colleague who isn’t here, something you learnt which took you by surprise or made you think differently”. Prof Penny Endersby, CEO of the Met Office
“Once you have read this guide if we haven’t left you terrified at the prospects, at the risks if we do not abate climate change, then we have failed. But equally, if we don’t leave you with hope, with faith, that another path is within our grasp, is within the power of us and others to deliver, then we have failed just as much”. Stuart Brocklehurst, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Business Engagement and Innovation, University of Exeter
The Parliamentarians' Guide to Climate Change is available to download here along with a compendium of links to reliable sources of in-depth information on climate change.
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