Let’s make the Queen’s Speech an event to remember – by finally taking action to tackle the climate crisis

At the state opening of parliament this week, we will hear the first Queen’s Speech of this decade – a decade that is the most important ever when it comes to the climate emergency.

As President Joe Biden said at the global leaders’ climate summit last month: “This is the decade we must make the decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis”.

Our current course, marked by a few recent pledges, but no plan to deliver them, is taking us towards climate catastrophe. We need an urgent change of direction.

Surveys over the past year have shown a real demand for change to address the deep fault lines in our society and tackle the accelerating climate and nature crises. It’s not tinkering with the status quo that people want: it’s fundamental change to an economic system which has failed so many and is driving environmental destruction.

So where should the government start? Here are a few ideas: call it the “five bills to thrive list”.

When so many face the loss of their jobs or livelihoods, stabilising our economy in the wake of the pandemic is a clear priority. The government has the slogan “build back better”, but little else. We need a Green New Deal to accelerate decarbonisation, meet people’s demand for deep-rooted change, create millions of green jobs and lay the groundwork for a fairer, sustainable future.

To save ministers’ time, there is already a Green New Deal bill prepared. Formally titled the Decarbonisation and Economic Strategy Bill, it would introduce a legally binding target for net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, protect and restore nature and require the government to focus on human and ecological wellbeing over what Greta Thunberg has rightly called “the fairy tale of eternal economic growth”. 

The government has recently announced a more ambitious climate target, which is welcome, but there is still no plan for achieving this, and the target for nature is equally lacking in detail. The existing legislation, the Climate Change Act, needs updating and its holes need patching.  My second proposal, the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill, achieves this, building on the strengths of the 2008 act and addressing its weaknesses.

It focuses not only on climate but on nature too, and it provides a role for a citizens’ assembly to work with parliament on the transition to a carbon-free future.

With the UK hosting both the G7 meeting and the UN climate summit, there is no better time to show we are serious about addressing the climate emergency. The CEE Bill already has the backing of more than 100 cross-party MPs and, with government support, should make speedy progress through parliament.

We have known for decades that the main cause of the climate emergency is the burning of fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas have been responsible for almost 80 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution.

Phasing out the use of fossil fuels and leaving them in the ground is absolutely vital, which is why the government should back my third bill, a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Bill which would give backing to a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to end all exploration and production of fossil fuels; phase out existing stockpiles in line with an average global temperature rise of 1.5C; and work with local communities on economic diversification.

Number four is a Sustainable Economy Bill which would address the economic elephant in the room – an economic model that is based on infinite economic growth on a planet of finite resources. The government can adopt as many green targets as it likes but unless it addresses our destructive economic system which is fuelling the climate and ecological crises, then it will be only tinkering at the edges.

This bill would require the government to adopt new economic goals that focus on the health of people and planet rather than GDP growth. It would place social and environmental gains at the heart of government decision-making.

Without this shift, the potential for a green and fair recovery from coronavirus will be undermined by the short-term priorities of the Treasury.

As an OECD report warned: “Recent patterns of growth have generated significant harms over recent decades – including rising inequality and catastrophic environmental degradation. Governments must change the way the economy works in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.” 

The key legacy of coronavirus must be that we redesign our economy to serve the health and wellbeing of people and nature, not GDP growth.

Lastly, the huge challenge of addressing the climate and ecology crises requires everyone to play a part: individuals, government, public bodies and private companies. More than 500 businesses have already come together to demand changes to UK law to make sure every company in the UK, of whatever size, aligns the interests of shareholders with those of wider society and the environment. 

The Better Business Bill would amend the Companies Act to require firms to operate in a way that benefits all stakeholders, including workers, communities and the environment, as well as shareholders. It would transform the way companies do business.

All of these five bills would help set us on the right track to addressing the huge challenges of climate and ecological breakdown.

A clear strategy for a fairer, greener, sustainable future: now that would be a Queen’s Speech to remember.