Member

When this issue was debated in the Commons, the Minister’s response was that the Government could not see quite what extra benefit this amendment would deliver. I appreciate that the NERC Act and the strengthened biodiversity duty, which many Members of this House were responsible for strengthening during proceedings on the Environment Act in 2021, do give local authorities responsibilities for biodiversity, but there is no similar duty for climate change and adaptation. Equally, the Minister went on to claim that there have been significant national initiatives, including the Local Authority Climate Service, which provides a free meteorological service to help local authorities plot climate issues. But frankly, given the scale of the challenge we are talking about and that 300 of our local authorities have declared a climate emergency, it is probably fair to say that those initiatives on their own really do not cut the mustard. What is required, if we are going to seriously tackle our climate goals and deliver the homes for nature that we need, is to give local authorities this statutory duty. I beg to move.