Union leaders' request for the UK Government to support the Climate and Nature Bill

Please do write or speak to your MP to encourage them to attend and support the Bill - click here for details

Dear Prime Minister,

We write to ask that you and the Labour Government support the passage of the Climate and Nature Bill through Parliament, including at its Second Reading on 24 January 2025.

As you know, the climate-nature crisis is already impacting workers' lives and livelihoods across the UK. Heat stress, flooding, poor air quality, and disruptions to work hours and industry are but a few examples of how this intertwined crisis is affecting the health, wellbeing, job security and productivity of workers across the nations.

As the 2024 Labour manifesto made clear, as well as these immediate problems, the climate-nature crisis is the greatest, long-term, global challenge we face. It is therefore essential that, as part of achieving the international climate and biodiversity obligations that Britain has already agreed to, that Parliament sets the strongest laws to rise to this existential threat; not only for the benefit of our members and for the wider UK workforce, but for all citizens.

This Government, and this Parliament, has a weighty responsibility of both rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and of halting and reversing nature loss, by 2030. But we have more to do to be on track for both—and there is currently no integrated legal framework to ensure this cross-government mission can be achieved—and we also need much more citizen involvement in this process to place workers at the heart of the just transition.

Like the Labour Party itself, we support the Climate and Nature Bill's ambition and objective of delivering a nature-rich just transition to a low-carbon economy, with workers and communities at the centre of the plan. From jobs, retraining, skills development, local wealth creation, and building national resilience, the benefits of delivering this in an equitable way are vast. For workers; for all citizens; and also for future generations—and for the health of our shared natural world—the Climate and Nature Bill deserves your support.

As you will know, the Bill has been before Parliament since 2020, and was most recently championed by Olivia Blake MP and Alex Sobel MP. It is supported by 255 Parliamentarians, alongside 375 local councils; 1,100 union, charity, NGO and business groups; 1,200 scientists; and almost 60,000 members of the public.

We are at a pivotal juncture for the UK's future, where the decisions of your Government will be crucial. Will we rise to the greatest challenge, or (as previous Administrations have done) kick the can down the road? We ask you to support the Climate and Nature Bill, and to allow Labour MPs to vote for the Bill to progress at its second reading vote on 24 January.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We look forward to your reply.

With best wishes,

Daniel Kebede (General Secretary, National Education Union)
Fran Heathcote (General Secretary, Public & Commercial Services Union)
Prof. Phil Banfield (Council Chair, British Medical Association)
Jo Grady (General Secretary, University and College Union)
Amira Campbell (President, National Union of Students UK)
Paul Day (Director, Pharmacists' Defence Association Union)
David Collingwood (President, Association of Educational Psychologists)
Maryam Eslamdoust (General Secretary, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association)
Paul W. Fleming (General Secretary, Equity)
Julie Georgiou (General Secretary, National House Building Council Staff Association)
Steve Gillan (General Secretary, Prison Officers Association)
Zita Holbourne (Co-Chair, Artists Union of England)
Ian Lawrence (General Secretary, National Association of Probation Officers)
Gawain Little (General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions)
Brian Linn (General Secretary, Aegis)
John McGowan (General Secretary, Social Workers' Union)
Sarah Woolley (General Secretary, Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union)
Tahir Latif (Greener Jobs Alliance)