Neil Carmichael, MP for Stroud, on UK Climate Action post-Paris

Correspondence from January 2017 onwards

6 April 2017

Dear Neil

Fwd: UK Climate Action following the Paris Agreement

It has been a little while since Vaughan Webber [secretary of GlosCAN] was last in touch with you about the above subject.

I appreciate that there has been much Parliamentary activity recently, but I was hoping you might have had time to respond to our suggestion that you seek to meet with Lord Deben and/or other representative(s) of the Committee on Climate Change and establish whether the summary points reiterated below are valid readings from the Committee’s report. Assuming that they are valid, you could then explore with the Committee representative(s) what options may be open to the Government to address them, and how you could give political support.

For convenience, the summary points were:
* There are several respects in which the UK Climate Change Act now looks unambitious in relation to the Paris Agreement goals.
* UK emissions reductions are at risk of stalling over the next 15 years or so (and thus breaching carbon budgets already endorsed by Parliament) unless there is renewed effort on the part of Government in terms of both support for existing policies and new policies.
* As the UK leaves the EU and becomes a separate party to the Paris Agreement, it is at severe risk of losing its previously recognised status as a world leader on climate policy. This is at a time when strong leadership is needed more than ever, particularly in light of the likely stance of the [incoming] US administration.
* The UK currently lacks a strategy to develop carbon removal techniques (including, but not limited to, CCS) that need to be ramped up to mass deployment well before 2050. Some of these techniques present opportunities for the UK to develop a leadership role in terms of skills and capability, as well as policy.

Ref. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/uk-action-following-paris

Yours sincerely
Hugh Richards
Chair of GlosCAN Steering Group

 

21 Feb 2017

Dear Neil,

I am resending (below) my letter of 14th February on UK Climate Action following the Paris Agreement with an addition (please see attachment) – the letter of 10th January from our Chair, Hugh Richards, which had preceded it and which will provide explanation of the background.

A summary of that earlier letter is as follows:

  •         There are several respects in which the UK Climate Change Act now looks unambitious in relation to the Paris Agreement goals.
  •         UK emissions reductions are at risk of stalling over the next 15 years or so (and thus breaching carbon budgets already endorsed by Parliament) unless there is renewed effort on the part of Government in terms of both support for existing policies and new policies.
  •         As the UK leaves the EU and becomes a separate party to the Paris Agreement, it is at severe risk of losing its previously recognised status as a world leader on climate policy. This is at a time when strong leadership is needed more than ever, particularly in light of the likely stance of the incoming US administration.
  •         The UK currently lacks a strategy to develop carbon removal techniques (including, but not limited to, CCS) that need to be ramped up to mass deployment well before 2050. Some of these techniques present opportunities for the UK to develop a leadership role in terms of skills and capability, as well as policy.
  •        Ref. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/uk-action-following-paris

I hope that this will be of use.

With kind regards,
Secretary, Gloucestershire Climate Action Network
GlosCAN.org

 

——– Original Message ——–
Subject:     UK Climate Action following the Paris Agreement
Date:     2017-02-14
To:     Neil Carmichael <neil.carmichael.mp@parliament.uk>

Dear Neil,

UK Climate Action following the Paris Agreement

Our Steering Group Chair (Hugh Richards) has shared with us his personal letter to you on the above topic (dated 10 January 2017) and your e-mail response to it (12 January 2017). In your e-mail, you said that you would welcome further suggestions for action on your part, and we are glad to respond.

As you know, GlosCAN is a grassroots network of people who are concerned about climate change, not a body of experts on climate policy, which is unfortunately a very complex area. So it is not easy to identify specific issues for you to focus on. Rather, we suggest that you seek to meet with Lord Deben and/or other representative(s) of the Committee on Climate Change and establish whether the summary points at the end of Hugh’s letter are valid readings from the Committee’s report. Assuming that they are valid, you could then explore with the Committee representative(s) what options may be open to the Government to address them, and how you could give political support.

In the interests of maximising the benefit from such an engagement with the Committee, we suggest that it could be done by a group of MPs who are engaged with climate change as an issue, perhaps via the All-Party Parliamentary Group chaired by Caroline Lucas, or perhaps a smaller one-off group. If you needed help in identifying MPs with a good grasp of the issues, we imagine that Ed Miliband would be glad to help.

Please let us know whether you think the above is a good suggestion, and, if so, please could you keep us informed as things develop?

We are grateful for your willingness to engage with us, and (unless you object) we propose to publicise this engagement by placing copies of this correspondence on our website, in the hope that it may be a model for other climate action groups to follow.

With kind regards,
Secretary, Gloucestershire Climate Action Network
GlosCAN.org

 

Sent: 12 January 2017
Subject: Committee on Climate Change

Dear Hugh,

Thank you for sending me a copy of your letter regarding the recent report by the Committee on Climate Change. I have not yet found time to read the report it in its entirety, though I am aware of the salient points and will familiarise myself more fully when time permits. I am grateful to you for outlining the areas you feel are of particular concern, momentum behind the Paris Agreement is important and I am conscious of the ability to undermine vague language such as ‘below 2 °C’ .

I will forward on your letter to the relevant department, for the attention of Ministers, as it is really with them that the momentum of change is most significant. Furthermore, I will continue to engage with relevant grass root organisations and stake holder parties, as I hope you will agree I have a record of with GlosCAN. Though perhaps a small contribution, my own visit to Antarctica and position as Skylark species champion allow me to more fully understand, while simultaneously increasing awareness of, the threats inherent in anthropogenic climate change. I will continue to remain open to potential opportunities of a similar nature.

I would welcome any further suggestions you, or GlosCAN as a whole, feel I should consider – other than of course forwarding your letter.

Regards,
Neil Carmichael
MP for Stroud

 

Original letter to Neil Carmichael

10 January 2017

For easier viewing, please read the letter set out below in pdf version: Letter to N Carmichael 10 Jan 2017 – UK Climate Action post Paris.