THE Ilkley Labour Party has joined Leeds North West MP, Alex Sobel, in calling for stronger legal commitments to tackling the climate crisis.
In their last meeting of the year, the local branch of the Labour Party agreed unanimously to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill) which would “set an emergency path for the UK to follow” and allow it to play a “fair and proper role in limiting global temperatures to 1.5°C.”
Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West, has already joined other opposition MPs in signing an open letter to the government in support of the bill.
A spokesperson for Ilkley Labour Party said: “This legislation, currently making its way through the House of Commons, would require the government to include greenhouse gas emissions from imported goods in its official emissions figures, giving us a more accurate picture of our contribution to the climate crisis. It would also give more political power to ordinary people by creating Citizens’ Assemblies to determine what steps the UK should take to become more sustainable.
“One local ecological issue has been the discharge of raw sewage into the Wharfe but thanks to the Ilkley Clean River Group the river has recently received bathing status, an important first step in protecting our local environment. The CEE Bill would further commit the government to act on ecological issues, such as the degradation of our natural environment and the loss of biodiversity.”
Ilkley Labour Party members noted that “this is a crucial time to deal with the Climate and Ecological Emergency. The CEE Bill updates the Climate Change Act 2008 and would create a historic, globally significant piece of legacy legislation which addresses the urgency of the climate crisis”.
As part of their action on climate change, Labour members will be asking the town and district councils to publicly support the bill, as well as calling on local MP, Robbie Moore, to back the bill in Parliament.
While the bill has gained support from members of all opposition parties, it has yet to gain support with government MPs.
To find out how to get involved visit https://www.ceebill.uk/writetoyourmp.
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