The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) took place UN Headquarters in New York in September. Over 100 national governments also congregated for the UN Climate Ambition Summit. However, our Prime Minister was nowhere to be seen. At a time where global leadership is needed to drive ambitious climate policy, the British Government continues to turn a blind eye. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, was the only UK leader speaking at the UN summit.

So, what was Mr Sunak up to when the world was convening to discuss the greatest disaster facing mankind? He was hatching a plan to announce a series of climate U-turns, a plan that got leaked to the media. In front of the world’s media, Sunak announced a shameful, weak, and desperate political decision that will trash the economy, tarnish our reputation, and add billions in costs to families and households. His list of policies includes delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, delaying the phaseout target for the installation of new gas boilers and removing the need for landlords to retrofit their homes. Bizarrely, he also ruled out some ideas that had never been implemented or discussed in Parliament, such as requiring people to share cars, eat less meat and dairy and use seven recycling bins. It sounds like the Prime Minister is scaremongering to justify his shocking U-turn.

That the Prime Minister chose to announce his net zero U-turn during the Climate Week NYC is a slap in the face to the international community – it is unprofessional, provocative and it beggars the questions, what planet is he living on? 2023 was yet another year of global climate disaster – with every continent experiencing a new type of extreme weather. According to the International Environment Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol: “We have a very clear message: Strong international cooperation is crucial to success. Governments need to separate climate from geopolitics, given the scale of the challenge at hand.” The world needs to come together, and I believe the UK should be leading this coalition, as we did when during COP26.

Mr Sunak’s problem of course is that no one will believe the year zero trick another time. He cannot escape that he is the fifth Conservative Prime Minister in seven years or that the Government he leads has been in office for 13 years.  It’s not year zero – it’s year 14.  Whatever the current Prime Minister represents, it is not change. Instead, he represents why we need change. Continuing with the Government that has failed the country so badly would simply mean a continuation of the problems the country faces. It is clearer than ever that Labour is the only party that can truly achieve net zero and tackle the climate emergency.

Here are some of the things I’ve been doing in Parliament since your last newsletter:

Net Zero scepticism
I have received so many emails and letters from constituents are outraged at the Prime Minister’s U-turn on our climate commitments. And I completely share these concerns. I fear that the Prime Minister is playing politics with the climate emergency, and this is very dangerous. Suddenly governments around Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Italy and now the UK are using climate change as a wedge issue. By delaying net zero commitments, they will end up costing their constituents more in the long run. And it will only escalate climate disaster. You can read my full statement on the Prime Minister’s decision.

Rosebank oil field
I know that many of you are disappointed that the Government has approved the licence for Rosebank oil field. 24 hours before this announcement, the International Environment Agency (IEA) warned that new oil and gas exploration should take place if the world was to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures. Time and time again, Ministers have ignored the science and have gone against campaigners, Labour MPs, their own climate advisers at the Climate Change Committee and the international community. What’s more, the oil from Rosebank is only expected to be produced from 2027 and experts say it will be sold on the international market at the going rate, meaning it will have no little or no impact on our bills. In contrast, a Labour Government will not approve new oil and gas licences, our Warm Homes Plan will retrofit nineteen million homes and we will invest in home-grown green energy.

State of Nature report
The 2023 State of Nature report is absolutely damning – nearly one in six species surveyed are classified as threatened and therefore at risk of extinction from Great Britain. For over 13 years, the Tories have failed to tackle the loss of biodiversity and protect our precious wildlife. Their inaction over the sewage crisis – where water companies have been leaking raw sewage down our rivers, into our lakes and washing up on our beaches – has also severally damaged our marine wildlife. Yet another Tory environmental disaster. I have now written to the Secretary of State about this report and what she is doing to restore nature and stop sewage leaking into our waters.

Sewage
In September, the Women’s Institute visited Parliament to campaign on the state of our waters. I share the anger of many constituents that only 14% of UK rivers have a “good” ecological status. Under the Tories, we know that rivers in England are a chemical cocktail of sewage, agricultural waste, and pesticides. Unlike the Tories, Labour would take immediate action to hold water company bosses legally and financially accountable for the environmental consequences of their actions and strike off company directors who are persistent offenders. The Prime Minister wouldn’t want raw sewage in his private swimming pool, so why is he happy to treat the British countryside as an open sewer?

Some of my recent Written Parliamentary Questions:

• To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the water industry on reducing the discharge of sewage into (a) rivers, (b) seas and (c) lakes. Response here
• To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the correct way to recycle disposable vapes. Response here
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help reduce noise pollution from aircraft in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. Response here
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric vehicle chargepoints there are in (a) Haringey and (b) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. Response here
• To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of electric charging points on the motorway network. Response here