Bees are essential to the future of our planet, to pollinating our crops and to our rich tapestry of biodiversity. Yet, in the UK, 13 bee species are extinct and now one in ten of Europe’s wild bee species are under threat.

Neonicotinoid pesticides were banned across the EU in 2018 due to their harmful impact on bees and pollinators, and the UK Government committed to maintaining these restrictions post-Brexit. However, the Government announced on 8 January that it had authorised an exemption to treat sugar beet in England in 2021.

These pesticides are seriously harmful to Britain’s dwindling bee populations and will further damage biodiversity. Bee health is non-negotiable and that is why I am urging the Government to reverse its decision and uphold the ban on neonicotinoids.

I agree that we need a gold-standard Environment Bill with bold, swift action to cut carbon, safeguard habitats and protect declining species. However, I am concerned that the Bill is nowhere near bold enough to match the scale of the climate and ecological crisis that we are facing.

The Bill has also been delayed which is not good enough in the year we are hosting COP26. It should have become law before the end of the transition period for leaving the EU.

For too long climate change has been viewed as tomorrow’s problem – an issue that will affect future generations. The urgency for change has become strikingly evident, in light of the recent extreme flooding across Europe and the extreme heat that has been experienced in Pakistan and Canada. I fear that without a substantial change to our attitudes towards fossil fuels, these events will become much more regular with increasingly disastrous consequences.

The Tories’ lack of seriousness on environmental issues has again been highlighted by their shambolic handling of the COP 26 global climate change conference. The former head of the summit, Claire O’Neill, revealed that Boris Johnson admitted he “doesn’t get” climate change and she rightly criticised the Prime Minister for a “huge lack of leadership and engagement” over the UK’s hosting of the COP 26.

I am very concerned about the catastrophic levels of air pollution in this country. During the House of Commons Report Stage debate on 26 January 2021, I voted to enshrine the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality standards into law so that everyone in our community has clean air to breathe. However, this was voted down.

As you know, the House of Lords recently voted in support of an amendment to the Bill on this subject. I believe the Government must accept its defeat, or we will see our country fall even further behind the WHO clean air standards. In my view, we need a Clean Air Act to protect our environment, help decarbonise the economy and ensure we all have safe air to breathe.

Headlines have warned us that the state of our soil is now a serious threat to the environment and to our ability to grow crops. Additionally, I believe the Office for Environmental Protection needs the authority to deliver its remit without interference and that it needs greater powers of enforcement. I was pleased to see that the House of Lords passed amendments on these issues.

I recently supported these amendments in the House of Commons to help deliver the policies that will preserve our planet and protect our environment. 

Finally I would appreciate it if you could take the time to complete my climate change survey. I want to hear from constituents about your views and priorities about how to address climate change. Please follow this link to participate: https://www.louisehaigh.org.uk/news/2021/09/17/climatechangesurvey/