Charlotte Cane MP at All Saints, Milton

The member of Parliament for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, Charlotte Cane, was the guest speaker at All Saints Church here in Milton on Saturday 18th January. She gave a talk on “The Climate and Nature Bill” to an audience keen to be reassured that politicians appreciated that there are Climate and Biodiversity crises and to find out what was likely to be in the bill. The bill was tabled by Dr Roz Savage MP to require ministers to develop a strategy with yearly targets, in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, halt oil and gas exploration and imports, and reverse nature decline in a way which is “visibly and measurably on the path to recovery”. Charlotte Cane clearly showed that she appreciated the problems and went on to explain that she could not tell exactly what would be in this private members bill. She described the process that the bill will go through during its second reading on Friday 24th January, and that if it passes that stage, the negotiations that will need to be done to finalise wording so that it has a chance of becoming law. Members of the congregation were joined by local residents, U3A members and visitors from other churches including Reverend Canon Nigel Cooper, the Diocesan Environment Officer. Terry Moore, a member of the Eco Church team, said afterwards, “It was good to welcome our local MP to All Saints and reassuring that she knows and cares about the dual emergencies facing the planet.”

We have since found that the bill was not pushed to a second reading vote following “fruitful conversations” between Ms Savage and the Government on how to make progress. Lets hope that the government does take the climate and nature crises seriously.

The talk was at the invitation of the Eco Church team. It was the first thing the group arranged since the church became an Arocha Silver Eco Church Award holder in December in recognition of efforts being made by the church to take better care of the planet.

Helen Moore