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Ellie Chowns's Climate-related Tweets, Speeches & Votes

We've found the following climate-related tweets, speeches & votes by Ellie Chowns

• 15 Sep 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman), who made a passionate and utterly convincing case for the need for a green energy revolution and the benefits it would provide not only environmentally, but socially for the communities we are here to represent. We have heard fantastic arguments from across the House for a full ban on fracking. It is not just about the earthquake risks and the environmental damage to local communities, or because it is completely publicly unpopular, as the hon. Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume) pointed out. British citizens do not want fracking, and banning fracking fully is a very popular policy. Fundamentally, however, there is one key reason why we must have a full ban on fracking, which is that we must keep fossil fuels in the ground. We know that we live in a hugely warming world.

  Full debate: Fracking Ban

  Fossil fuels are traded globally. If we open up new production of fossil fuels, the reality is that that will do nothing for bills, do almost nothing for energy security and be a complete distraction from the investments we must make in the transition to the clean, green, renewable energy future that is our only hope of a sustainable economy not just in the long term, but in the short and medium terms. These are the industries of the future, and people who argue that we should continue to invest in typewriters during the era of the personal computer or continue to invest in horses and carriages during the era of the car are simply stuck in the past. We cannot continue to have our heads in the sand.

  Full debate: Fracking Ban

  Yes, seriously. I can give the hon. Member the reference, unlike for the extraordinary statistics he cited in his speech, which apparently have no basis in actual evidence. Fundamentally, we have to stop pouring fossil fuel on the fire of the climate crisis, and that means we need a full ban on fracking.

  Full debate: Fracking Ban

  Fundamentally, renewables are the cheap, clean, green energy of the future, and we need to shift in that direction as quickly as possible. We are here talking about fracking, but there is no commercially viable shale gas reserve in the entirety of the UK.

  Full debate: Fracking Ban

  Fundamentally, we are living in a burning world. The 11 hottest years on record were the past 11 years. The three hottest years on record were the past three years. The trajectory is going up and up, and this is not just a question of graphs on paper and reports from the World Meteorological Organisation; we are feeling it in our communities. The Prime Minister, when he considers decisions on things like fracking, should listen to communities in places such as Stourbridge, West Sussex and Stoke-on-Trent, where people have had their homes burned by wildfires that have been supercharged by the climate change that is already built in. It would be utterly irresponsible to pour yet more fuel on the fire of climate crisis.

  We need to recognise the reality that is hitting us in the face: a barrelling and accelerating climate crisis. We need to do everything we can to change direction, and the very least of those things has to be a full ban on fracking. Can the Minister confirm that when the energy independence Bill comes to this House after the recess, it will include a fulfilment of the Government?s previous promise to implement a full and statutory ban on fracking that cannot simply be overturned by ministerial diktat? Will he apply the ban to existing licences? We have to leave fossil fuels in the ground and supercharge our transition to the green, clean energy revolution, which is the only fundamental basis for a sustainable and prosperous future for all of the UK.

  Full debate: Fracking Ban

• 3 Sep 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  We have seen just recently what ecosystem collapse looks like: collapsing glaciers in the Himalayas and horrific loss of life on Nepal-Tibet border. We see what it looks like in the UK: the hottest ever summer and the worst ever arable harvest. Things are only going to get worse. This is clearly an issue of national security, and the security services themselves are raising the alarm, not just the environmentalists. We have to change course. Farmers in my constituency of North Herefordshire see this on a daily basis. We have to change the conversation about national security and recognise that it is not just about investment in weaponry and conflict, but about acknowledging the true, existential risk posed by climate change and ecosystem collapse, both in UK and across the world, as highlighted in this report.

  It is disappointing that this short report had to be dragged out of the Government, kicking and screaming, and published only after a huge amount of pressure. Where is the evidence base underlying it? What are the Government afraid to share with us? Will the Government publish the full report and the evidence base that underlies it? If they will not, why not? Will they recognise that ecosystems are critical national infrastructure and have to be addressed as such? To echo a point made by the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins), will the Government recognise that we cannot wait another few years for the national adaptation plan, given today’s announcement from the World Meteorological Organisation that climate change is supercharging natural phenomena such as El Niño, which will lead to even worse effects in the UK and globally than we saw this summer? Nature security is national security.

  Full debate: Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security

• 3 Sep 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  We cannot discuss this issue without recognising that the climate breakdown is already costing us hugely: the hottest summer ever, the worst arable harvest ever, and the Met Office says that it was 130 times more likely that we faced this crisis this year. Just today, the World Meteorological Organisation has said that climate breakdown is super-charging natural phenomena such as El Niño. The shadow Secretary of State says that North sea communities need a new direction: yes, a just transition to clean energy for the future, not the dirty energy of the old. Will the Minister recognise that the climate damage created by Rosebank and Jackdaw will hugely outweigh any potential economic benefits and therefore rule them out? Fossil fuels must stay in the ground if we are to have a liveable future.

  Full debate: Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields

• 2 Sep 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  We are also facing the climate crisis barrelling down towards us. All of these issues require stronger co-operation with our closest neighbours. In that context, more than 10 years on from this disastrous wrong turn in British politics—this monumental act of self-harm—it is time to change course. I welcome the noises that the Government have made about resetting. That is certainly a start, but we need to be honest about what we have lost. We need to recognise the importance of co-operation and working together politically as well as economically. We need to recognise that the majority of the British people think that we would be better off back in the European Union, and that is why I believe we need to set out a path to rejoin. The best future for the UK lies within Europe. With the summit coming up, I hope that the Minister will be genuinely ambitious and deep in setting out the path forward.

  Full debate: EU Membership Referendum: Impact on the UK

• 1 Sep 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  The climate crisis is hitting hard already, and I was glad to hear the Prime Minister acknowledge that in his statement. We have just had the hottest summer since records began, farmers are facing the worst arable harvest since records began and the Met Office tells us today that extreme summers such as this year’s have been made 130 times more likely by burning fossil fuels. In that context, will the Prime Minister remember his words of last year, when he warned against the “siren voices” taking us down the path of “dependence on fossil fuels”? Will he stick to the manifesto promise not to drill any more oil and gas, and will he rule out Rosebank and Jackdaw, because the climate damage they would create hugely outweighs any possible benefit and will lead to more disasters such as we saw on the Nepal-Tibet border just last week?

  Full debate: Direction of Government

• 14 Jul 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  I represent North Herefordshire, an absolutely beautiful constituency with farming at its heart. Farmers are at the forefront of the impacts of climate change—not just extreme heat but other weather extremes such as flooding. As my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney Valley pointed out, we are facing a situation in which climate change, or climate breakdown, is driving the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. As he pointed out, we have known about this for decades, but sadly Governments have effectively been asleep at the wheel on reducing climate-warming emissions to the level we need them at, and particularly on adaptation and building our resilience.

  Full debate: Extreme Heat: Preparedness

  We need to change our ways as a country. Experts have been telling us this for a long time. The Committee on Climate Change has pointed out that we are not doing anywhere near enough to meet the adaptation challenge facing us. I call on the Government to grasp the nettle. This is investment in building a better future—it is a win-win investment. Building houses that are suitable for the weather conditions that we will be facing is much cheaper than having to retrofit them afterwards. If we use materials and building methods that enable us to cool buildings naturally, we can create urban areas that are not such huge heat islands as they currently are. By building in such a way, including with lots of tree planting in urban areas, we can cool temperatures locally using natural methods. We have a real opportunity here, and we should grasp it with both hands. Tackling the adaptation and the resilience challenge is not about just sticking our finger in the dyke or using a sticking plaster approach, such as patchwork retrofitting air-con in every building that is struggling with the heat; it is an opportunity to imagine and to build a better country for the future.

  I raised this in Health questions this morning, but the issues we face are not solved just by retrofitting our hospitals. We have to enable everybody in the country to stay healthy in the extremes of heat that we are increasingly seeing so that they do not have to go into hospital in the first place. This is a cross-Government requirement and priority, so will the Government put in place adaptation plans that the Climate Change Committee will itself declare are fit for purpose?

  Finally, we must put the brakes on the problem at the same time. It is not an either/or between mitigation and adaptation; we still have more to do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the emissions that are causing climate breakdown, so that we save ourselves from the worst possible effects of runaway climate change. I call on the Government to go further and faster on real climate action, not least by holding the line on Jackdaw and Rosebank. We cannot on the one hand struggle with facing the consequences of climate change, such as extreme heat, and on the other hand continue to take more fossil fuels out of the ground and burn them. We need consistent Government policy across the piece. I hope the Government will provide that.

  Full debate: Extreme Heat: Preparedness

• 14 Jul 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  Heatwaves, which are becoming more frequent and more severe due to the climate crisis, create a health crisis. We see that in excessive temperatures in our hospitals and other health buildings, and we see it in the huge, unprecedented demand on ambulance services. First, will the Minister support my colleague Hannah Spencer’s private Member’s Bill to set a maximum workplace temperature to help keep people healthy during heatwaves? Secondly, what conversations is the Department having with the Cabinet Office to ensure that we have a Government-wide adaptation and resilience plan to deal with the effects of climate breakdown?

  Full debate: NHS Buildings: Extreme Heat

• 13 Jul 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  The climate crisis is upon us. We in the UK are now in the midst of our third heatwave in less than three months. Communities have endured sweltering conditions that have put huge pressure on our NHS, our infrastructure and our natural environment. Our ambulance service has never been so busy. Tragically, lives have been lost as people have sought relief from the heat in rivers and lakes. Today, we have heard that it is estimated that there were 2,700 excess deaths due to just the May and June heatwaves. In my constituency, dozens of schools have had to close due to overheating. People are sweltering in hospitals, care homes and many other workplaces, and farmers and communities alike are facing critical water shortages.

  Extreme heat is no longer an occasional inconvenience, and neither are extreme storms and floods; they are now part of everyday life, and we know that things are getting worse. If we are serious about protecting future generations from climate breakdown, every sector must play its part in reducing emissions. Today I will focus on one sector that is rarely discussed, despite having an environmental footprint unlike any other.

  Full debate: Embodied Carbon: Buildings

  It is clear that the construction industry has a huge impact on both climate change and biodiversity loss. We rightly spend time discussing how efficiently buildings operate once they are occupied, but we spend remarkably little time discussing the emissions that occur before anybody even walks through the front door of a new building. Those emissions are known as embodied carbon—that is, the greenhouse gases emitted when we extract raw materials, process them into building materials and use them for construction.

  According to the UK Green Building Council, embodied carbon accounts for around 20% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions and is expected to account for fully half of the built environment’s emissions by 2035. Bizarrely, though, it has so far been ignored by central Government policy. Building regulations only set limits on a subset of operational emissions. The Government’s new future homes standard ignores embodied carbon and only tackles energy use in new homes, which is a small fraction of the total emissions from the built environment. The standard is silent on material use, construction processes and embodied carbon. These are not marginal omissions—they are large gaps in UK climate policy. The Environmental Audit Committee pointed this out several years ago, as have experts for years and years.

  I commend those councils for their ambition—they recognise the urgency of climate action and are taking real, tangible action. However, the consequence is fragmentation. Different authorities are adopting different reporting templates, different thresholds, different assessment requirements and different policy wording. As such, national house builders and developers are being forced to navigate an increasingly complex patchwork of local rules. They have to learn a new set of rules every time they build in a different local authority. Planning officials are duplicating work, and local authorities are developing parallel systems. Everyone is investing time and money in solving the same problem dozens of times over. The Government would not leave local authorities to tackle other aspects that are fundamental to building design, such as fire safety or equality. Those areas have national minimum standards that authorities can build on, so why are carbon emissions not treated the same? Do we not take climate breakdown as seriously as safety or equality?

  Full debate: Embodied Carbon: Buildings

  As the Environmental Audit Committee highlighted in its 2022 report, “Building to net zero: costing carbon in construction”, regulating embodied carbon would be

  The encouraging news is that the construction sector is not waiting for Government. For more than four years, more than 250 organisations from across the built environment sector have supported a campaign called “Part Z”, named after the various other parts of the building regulations. They have been calling for national embodied carbon regulation. Those companies are not asking the Government to invent something entirely new. Indeed, the same experts who developed “Part Z” have now produced the UK net zero carbon buildings standard, a ready-made framework that provides a practical route to compliance. It builds on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ whole-life carbon assessment methodology, one of the most developed embodied carbon methodologies in the world. These documents could form the basis of future regulatory reporting requirements and, in time, a new approved document. The Government do not need to start from scratch; the construction industry has already done much of the hard work.

  Full debate: Embodied Carbon: Buildings

  Today, I ask the Minister for one thing above all else: national leadership. I ask for a clear pathway towards national regulation to measure and reduce embodied carbon, aligned with the direction already being taken by many of our international partners and by many in the construction industry. I ask that embodied carbon is finally recognised within national planning policy, replacing today’s fragmented patchwork with one coherent national approach. I ask the Government to consider using the UK net zero carbon buildings standard as the route to fast-tracking the compliance requirements, finally giving industry the certainty it has been requesting for years. When will the Government finally release their long-delayed circular economy growth plan, which could deal with embodied carbon at its core?

  Climate change is not hanging around, as we can see around us all the time, and embodied carbon is only making things worse. We can and must change that. We have the expertise, the methodology and the support from industry. Local authorities are crying out for consistency, and the standards have already been written—the only thing missing is national leadership. I call on the Minister to provide it.

  Full debate: Embodied Carbon: Buildings

• 29 Jun 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  Another key threat to our country’s security and resilience, which does not receive nearly enough attention, is climate breakdown. It is not just the environmentalists but the ambulance workers who say that, and the Joint Intelligence and Security Committee’s national security assessment itself says that ecosystem breakdown poses a clear threat to national security. The Committee on Climate Change has pointed out that we are woefully ill-prepared as a country for the effects of climate breakdown.

  We urgently need to take more action to avoid causing climate change. Equally, we urgently need to take far more action to recognise the threat to our national security and resilience posed by the effects of climate breakdown. That was brought home to us in hugely clear terms last week, as we faced the second major heatwave of the last month or so. That heatwave led to record call-outs for the ambulance service—even more than under covid.

  Full debate: Cabinet Office

  The Committee on Climate Change—the Government’s independent adviser—has set out repeatedly that these solutions are available and has set out the things that we need to put forward. The Committee has also set out repeatedly, as have any number of people over any number of years, the fact that the costs of inaction far exceed those of action. The hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) made that point previously in relation to other security challenges, and it applies with knobs on to tackling the challenge of climate breakdown. Twenty years ago, Professor Nick Stern set out clearly that the costs of inaction far outweigh—many times over—the costs of action to address these risks. After 20 years of our heads collectively being in the sand as a country, we are reaping the whirlwind of that inaction.

  We need to develop a comprehensive extreme heat strategy, a national drought plan and a farmer-led transition to climate-resilient food production. Our farmers are crying out for that support, and they too are on the frontline of the security and resilience challenges that the reality of climate breakdown places on us. We need to strengthen our transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure and water infrastructure. Last week, we heard about nuclear power stations going offline in France. Train companies were saying that nobody should travel unless it was a matter of life and death. Water shortages are becoming more and more frequent. The collective, long-term and strategic approach to tackling climate resilience must be a core plank of national security.

  Tackling climate breakdown is not just an environmental issue but a central plank of security and national resilience. The costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of taking action now. Will the Minister commit to putting in place a national strategy? Will there be an individual identified in the Cabinet Office who leads on it? Does she recognise that we must invest now or pay far worse costs later?

  Full debate: Cabinet Office

  The Minister has not mentioned climate change. Climate change is not a natural hazard; it is a human-made major risk.

  Full debate: Cabinet Office

  One of the key points that I tried to get across in my speech is that this has to be a whole-of-Government effort. DEFRA cannot put in place a strategy to adapt the health service to the reality of climate change. It cannot put in place a strategy to adapt our schools, our transport infrastructure or our energy infrastructure to the reality of climate change. Does the Minister not recognise that this has to be a whole-of-Government effort, and that it is not something that DEFRA can hold? That is precisely why we need a Cabinet Office Minister to lead on climate resilience.

  Full debate: Cabinet Office

• 22 Jun 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  The G7 summit took place in a country in the grip of an extreme heatwave—a heatwave that is now hitting the UK this week—yet climate change was not on the agenda, despite the fact that the climate crisis has huge impacts on human health and economic security. Why are the G7 asleep at the wheel with their heads buried in the sand? Could it possibly be that they were appeasing one Donald J. Trump, and have we not already learned that appeasing Trump never works? Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure me that, whoever the next Prime Minister is, the UK will show the leadership needed here in the UK and on the global stage to tackle the climate crisis?

  Full debate: G7 Summit

• 18 Jun 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  It is clear that UK business has global environmental and human rights impacts. UK business has impacts on climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, waste management, deforestation, and of course on human rights and labour rights, as we have already discussed. The Government have acknowledged those concerns.

  Full debate: Human Rights: Supply Chains

• 9 Jun 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  The point she is making is key: he has been an advocate not just for the natural world, but for our responsibilities to tackle the huge challenge of climate change. Sir David clearly deservers some sort of memorial—perhaps a living memorial. I thank the hon. Member for securing this tribute to him, and hope that we all agree that he deserves all the recognition and respect that we can give him.

  Full debate: Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument

• 24 Mar 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  I completely agree with the hon. Member. It is interesting that young people are often better able to engage with climate change than many of us who are older and are preoccupied with the short-term issues right in front of us.

  Full debate: Representation of the People Bill (Third sitting)

• 24 Mar 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  The fuel price shock caused by Trump’s reckless war highlights just how risky it is for the UK to be locked into the global fossil fuel markets. The Climate Change Committee recently pointed out that the cost of achieving net zero by 2050 is less than the cost of a single fossil fuel price spike, reinforcing the point that we need to invest in clean, green technologies and get ourselves off being hooked on fossil fuels.

  Full debate: Middle East: Economic Update

• 10 Mar 2026: Tweet

  As illegal international aggression once again highlights the need for investment in renewable energy, it is crucial the govt do everything possible to protect households from bearing the brunt of surging energy prices - and to ensure no energy company profits from this war. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/2031317486180724920/video/1 [Source]

• 29 Jan 2026: Parliamentary Speech

  I will speak first about flooding. That affects my constituency of North Herefordshire horrendously frequently and it is only going to get worse. I have already spoken numerous times in the House about the fact that climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of flooding incidents. If we make space for water, if we give room to our rivers, we will of course enable ourselves as communities to be more resilient. We saw the devastating effects of the floods last November in Monmouth and Skenfrith, just over the border from my constituency. We know that if we invest in Making Space for Water and looking after our rivers, that will have numerous protective benefits for us all as an economy.

  Full debate: River Habitats: Protection and Restoration

• 17 Dec 2025: Tweet

  Pitting nature protection against house building won't solve the housing crisis - setting a social housing target, investing far more directly in supporting social housing, and ensuring all building meets nature protection and climate crisis goals will. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/2001302351743726049/video/1 [Source]

• 16 Dec 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  The Minister’s statement pins the blame for the housing crisis on the planning system, but we all know that there are many challenges facing the building sector: cost inflation, staff shortages made worse by Brexit, issues with housing association funding, and the problem of land banking, with all these planning permissions not being built out. Instead of the Minister pitting nature protection against house building—if he really wants to increase housing availability, affordability and quality, as he said in the statement that he does—will he set a social housing target, invest far more in directly supporting social housing and ensure that all building meets nature protection and climate crisis challenge goals?

  Full debate: Planning Reform

• 10 Dec 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  It is vital that the renewable energy transition does not come at the expense of communities whose rights and environments are often very negatively affected by the mining of critical minerals. Co-ordinated global action is necessary to avoid replicating the terrible errors of the fossil fuel age in critical mineral mining.

  Full debate: International Human Rights Day 2025

• 04 Dec 2025: Tweet

  Farmers are on the front lines of the climate crisis, with extreme weather leading to record losses in 2025. The govt must take urgent steps to invest in tackling climate breakdown now, including targeted support for farmers to move to more climate-resilient methods. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1996522382887170210/photo/1 [Source]

• 1 Dec 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  Analysis from the New Economics Foundation shows that, because of the Government’s decisions regarding the energy company obligation and the warm homes plan, the poorest households living in the coldest homes have now lost two thirds of the support they were due to receive for energy efficiency upgrades. When the UK has some of the worst-insulated homes in western Europe, we should be scaling home insulation up, not down, and using progressive taxation to pay for it. I am delighted that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is back in his place to hear me make these arguments.

  Full debate: Budget Resolutions

• 28 Nov 2025: Tweet

  Another exciting week as your MP holding the government to account on fair funding for rural communities, action on tackling climate breakdown, cost-of-living and wealth tax measures, and much more! https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1994462126652440851/video/1 [Source]

• 28 Nov 2025: Tweet

  Real action on climate change requires funding, not just rhetoric. The govt must commit to contributing to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility fund and Just Transition Mechanism if we are to address climate breakdown. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1994384693824016872/video/1 [Source]

• 25 Nov 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  We are at a pivotal moment in the climate crisis. COP30 showed us the fossil fuel industry and its political cheerleaders doing their very best to de-rail action. I thank the Secretary of State for his work. I have two questions on points he raised in his statement. First, he said that ambition must be matched with finance, yet the UK has not contributed to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility or the just transition mechanism. Is it not time for the UK to put its money where its mouth is on this? Secondly, on the point of transitioning away from fossil fuels, the UK faces a defining test: Rosebank. Will he reject the Rosebank oilfield and fully back the just transition that our country needs?

  Full debate: COP30

• 20 Nov 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  The UK is coming under intense scrutiny at COP30 for saying one thing in public but doing the opposite in private, by apparently blocking progress on the Belém action mechanism to secure fossil-free jobs, workers’ rights, communities and our planet, despite the Prime Minister saying in his statement to COP

  Full debate: Business of the House

• 20 Nov 2025: Tweet

  The plant closure in Mossmorran is just the latest evidence that fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil can't be relied upon - that's why the government needs to invest in a genuinely just transition to green and renewable energy sources, to protect jobs and the planet. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1991542582590206258/video/1 [Source]

• 20 Nov 2025: Tweet

  Severe flooding like we've seen across Monmouthshire will only become more frequent as climate breakdown progresses - building resilience could not be more important. By investing in #RiverFriendlyFarming, govt can help farmers manage floodwater and prevent disastrous outcomes. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1991454171875475768/video/1 [Source]

• 18 Nov 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  With just a few days of COP30 left, it is incredibly disappointing that UK climate leadership is at risk because of the Government’s decision not to contribute to the tropical forest forever facility to end forest destruction. Can the Minister please confirm whether reports that that decision is under review are accurate? Can he assure the House that the UK will play its part in contributing directly to taking its fair share of ending forest destruction?

  Full debate: Topical Questions

• 18 Nov 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  Today’s announcement by ExxonMobil—a company that made £25 billion of profit last year—will be devastating for the workers, their families and the communities in and around Mossmorran. Does it not just show that ExxonMobil does not give a fig for its workers; it just prioritises profiteering? Does the Minister agree that the fossil fuel giants cannot be trusted to protect jobs or the planet? Will he commit to investing new resources to ensure a genuinely just transition in which the voices of workers are central to the debate, so that they are not left to the whims of these profiteering fossil fuel giants?

  Full debate: ExxonMobil: Mossmorran

• 12 Nov 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate, and I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) for securing it. To be honest, I am a bit disappointed that the Secretary of State did not come to the House to make a statement about the carbon budget delivery plan, especially given that the previous one was in breach of the Climate Change Act 2008, and given the urgency of the UK’s meeting not just its statutory domestic climate targets but its international obligations under the Paris climate agreement.

  It is obvious that UK climate action has important domestic and international ramifications. We are holding this debate while COP30 takes place. The UN has warned that the goal of a 1.5°C limit is fragile. According to the UN Secretary-General, the current plans put forward by nation states to cut emissions will put the world on a pathway to 2.3°C of global warming if they are fully implemented, and yet the UK’s new carbon budget delivery plan will fall short of our own commitments under the COP process, via our nationally determined contributions. The delivery plan is looking to achieve 96% of the cuts for the 2030 NDC and 99% for the 2035 NDC. That does not even reflect the fact that the UK’s NDC commitments themselves fail to take account of the scale of ambition needed to tackle the burning reality of the climate crisis, in line with what the climate science demands, and to reflect the UK’s historic responsibilities—and therefore moral obligation—to take a fairer share of the global need to cut emissions.

  There are of course things to welcome in the carbon budget delivery plan, including tougher energy standards for the private rented and social rented sectors, welcome signals on heat pumps and so on, but to make our homes really fit for the future we need to think even bigger. We need to minimise embodied carbon in the housing sector, and maximise on-site energy generation, biodiversity in the construction of new homes and resilience in things such as flooding and overheating, which is crucial in tackling the impacts of the climate crisis, which is hitting harder and harder. Every new home—especially every new social home—must be built to the highest standards.

  Full debate: Carbon Budget Delivery Plan

  My final point is to put on record my thanks to Friends of the Earth for challenging the last plan in court and for its ongoing commitment to holding Governments to account. All this is possible only because of the Climate Change Act 2008. We all have a responsibility to uphold that incredibly important piece of legislation, which is key to ensuring that together we build a sustainable future for our country.

  The British public remain very supportive of ambitious climate action. They want to know that measures are being taken to transition the economy, build a sustainable future and tackle the huge risks of climate breakdown. We all have a responsibility to ensure that that future is liveable for ourselves and future generations. I look forward to continuing to work across parties to build that positive future.

  Full debate: Carbon Budget Delivery Plan

• 08 Nov 2025: Tweet

  In our rapidly changing world, it is crucial that we equip our children and young people with the knowledge and tools they need to tackle the urgent challenges of climate breakdown and misinformation - but we cannot wait until 2028 or 2029 to implement this new curriculum. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1987082665770819771/video/1 [Source]

• 04 Nov 2025: Tweet

  The world's poorest people aren't the ones causing large-scale climate breakdown - so why are they expected to pay for it? Myself and my fellow Green MPs have written to the PM ahead of COP30 urging him to #MakePollutersPay through a tax on the extraction of fossil fuels. https://twitter.com/AdrianRamsay/status/1985414728563523724 [Source]

• 29 Oct 2025: Tweet

  My thoughts are with all affected by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and Cuba, and with their loved ones, including countless British families. With climate breakdown advancing, storms like this will only become more frequent. We must act urgently to prevent further catastrophes. [Source]

• 24 Oct 2025: Tweet

  It's been another busy week as MP for North Herefordshire, holding the government to account and pushing for progress on social housing, the climate crisis, and more! https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1981750184057987571/video/1 [Source]

• 23 Oct 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  The Government’s own advisers tell us that the climate and nature crisis poses a huge resilience threat to our country. Yet, in an answer to a question on wildfires, the Minister does not even reference that climate change makes them more frequent and severe. What are the Government doing to tackle this huge threat from climate change?

  Full debate: Strengthening National Resilience

• 23 Oct 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  T5. Last week, it was reported that No. 10 may have blocked the publication of a new Joint Intelligence Committee report on the severe threat to national security posed by the climate and nature crisis. With the Government’s own advisers making it clear that we are in no way prepared for the effects of climate change that we are already seeing—such as wildfires, floods and storms, which we have heard about today—let alone the changes that are expected in the coming decades, can the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster please tell the House whether it is true that the Government are trying to block the Joint Intelligence Committee chief’s efforts to keep us all safe? When can we expect the report to see the light of day?

  Full debate: Topical Questions

• 23 Oct 2025: Tweet

  The threat the climate crisis poses to national security is laid out in a Joint Intelligence Committee report - though we can't read it, because the govt has reportedly blocked its publication. I asked the minister when we can expect it to be released; he dodged the question. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1981376364411281515/video/1 [Source]

• 02 Oct 2025: Tweet

  The UK's hottest spring and summer yet. The highest area of UK land burnt by wildfires since records began. Drought, flooding, extreme heat and cold. Climate breakdown is already here. Badenoch's proposal to scrap the CCA isn't just ill-advised; it would be catastrophic. [Source]

• 02 Sep 2025: Tweet

  After a summer of record-breaking temps and heatwaves, the Met Office confirms human activity made this 70x more likely. Climate breakdown is happening before our eyes, and the UK govt is not acting fast enough. We need to cut emissions and invest in sustainable practices now. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1962900234645778899/photo/1 [Source]

• 22 Aug 2025: Tweet

  Thank you Ellisif ???? You’re right — the climate emergency isn’t a partisan issue. Adrian & I will build bridges to bring people together for change. ???? https://www.ellie-adrian-2025.org/ https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1958770867409695173/photo/1 [Source]

• 23 Jul 2025: Tweet

  The ICJ has ruled: climate change poses an existential risk and member states have a legal duty to prevent it. This must serve as the starting gun for accelerating UK climate action: we need greater cuts to emissions, investment in renewables, and protection of nature now. [Source]

• 27 Jun 2025: Tweet

  I’m excited to be speaking at #Glastonbury2025! Yesterday I spoke about the politics of hope and action; today I’m on a panel about tackling the climate crisis. Plus a @TheGreenParty leadership hustings! https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1938507779167195619/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Jun 2025: Tweet

  ????Today’s CCC report shows emissions are falling, and we’re making real progress on EVs, heat pumps and renewables. That’s welcome. But we won’t tackle climate change—or protect people from extreme weather—without transforming how we build and upgrade our homes. [Source]

• 21 Jun 2025: Tweet

  I'm backing the @StopBigOil campaign to raise much-needed funds for climate action by ensuring the biggest polluters contribute their fair share. Oil and gas giants have made huge profits for decades while driving climate change. It’s only fair they help fix the damage. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1936367803520499979/photo/1 [Source]

• 09 Jun 2025: Tweet

  The government is likely to be taken to court for missing its climate targets. Meanwhile, Labour waters down promises and Reform fuels denial. We speak up — and take them on — because there’s no time to waste. ???? Watch #TogetherWeWin https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1932045514943471667/video/1 [Source]

• 07 Jun 2025: Tweet

  From the climate crisis to child poverty, change won’t come from the sidelines. It comes from being in the room where decisions are made – and being ready to lead. Join me on 12 June to hear why that matters. https://www.ellie-adrian-2025.org/events https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1931350827702088101/photo/1 [Source]

• 5 Jun 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  While the UK Government have committed to not allowing any new oil and gas licences—I would like to see them go further—the marine spatial plan still says that we should maximise production of oil and gas. Is that not outrageously out of date, and is it not urgent that the Government update the strategy so that we have joined-up policy to tackle the climate crisis?

  Full debate: Governing the Marine Environment

• 2 Jun 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  This Government seem to have confused security with spending more on weapons, but warheads do not buy a safer world—they make it more dangerous. Instead of wasting £15 billion on nuclear warheads—weapons that must never be used and that should be as unacceptable as biological and chemical weapons—at a taxpayer subsidy of more than £1 million per job created, why not instead spend that money on real security that must involve defence and diplomacy and development? Real security means decent housing and public services, tackling the challenges of the climate crisis and pandemic-preparedness because—

  Full debate: Strategic Defence Review

• 22 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  When we considered the topic of sustainable drainage systems, I spoke about the importance of ensuring that we bear flood resilience in mind. It bears repeating that flooding—already a huge problem in our country—will become even more of a challenge as we continue to wrestle with the effects of climate change. I refer colleagues to the work of the Environmental Audit Committee, on which I sit, which is currently conducting an inquiry into flood resilience. We heard evidence from a number of witnesses earlier this week about the importance of property flood resilience measures, which new clause 86 concerns.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Thirteenth sitting)

• 22 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once more, Mrs Hobhouse. I rise to speak in strong support of a group of new clauses that address a clear and growing risk to public health, quality of life and economic productivity: domestic overheating. It may surprise some—hopefully no one in this room—to know that the risk of overheating in homes is now one of the most severe climate-related threats in the UK. The Climate Change Committee’s independent climate risk assessment identifies overheating in homes as one of the most severe climate risks, requiring urgent action. Over half of UK homes are already at risk of overheating, and that is projected to increase to 90% homes under a 2°C global warming scenario, which unfortunately is a possibility.

  As highlighted by the Climate Change Committee,

  New clause 78 would introduce statutory guidance on the cooling hierarchy, an approach that is already familiar in London planning policy. The hierarchy prioritises passive design strategies, such as shading and ventilation, before resorting to energy-intensive cooling. This aligns with our net zero goals and ensures resilience, without placing undue burden on developers and the grid. Why would we not ensure that our buildings can effectively cool themselves before going to measures such as installing air conditioning?

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourteenth sitting)

  Embodied carbon has not substantially reduced over the last 30 years, unlike operational carbon, despite initiatives to decarbonise material manufacturing. Unlike operational carbon, which can be regulated through building performance standards, embodied carbon remains unaddressed by policy. As a result, decisions with very significant long-term climate implications are being made every day without a consistent framework for assessing their carbon impact. It is a huge unregulated problem.

  The new clause seeks to close that gap in a measured and industry-ready way. It would not impose a burden on small-scale development—only major schemes, where carbon savings from early design choices are both most impactful and most achievable. It would buils on existing tools and industry momentum, and industry actually really wants this. There are already widely used standards and guidance available, including the whole life carbon assessment guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the UK net zero carbon buildings standard and the embodied carbon primer from the London Energy Transformation Initiative.

  Many local authorities, such as the Greater London Authority, Bristol and Manchester, have begun requiring whole life carbon assessment as part of planning. Embedding this requirement in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill would provide clarity and consistency, saving time and minimising potential legal challenge by ensuring that planning authorities are demonstrably committing to the fulfilment of statutory climate duties. It would empower local planning authorities to make more informed, balanced decisions that take account of our legally binding net zero commitments and provide a consistent policy environment in which developers can operate.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Fourteenth sitting)

• 22 May 2025: Tweet

  This morning’s report shows home heating decarbonisation has ground to a halt—98% below our 2010 pace. Families deserve better. We must urgently retrofit homes, ensure new builds are carbon efficient, and speed up investment in net zero. https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/664/energy-security-and-net-zero-committee/news/206940/warm-homes-retrofit-failures-pushing-uk-clean-secure-energy-targets-further-off-track-say-mps/ [Source]

• 20 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I warmly welcome the new clause tabled by the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington. I refer colleagues to the fact that I have proposed a private Member’s Bill on exactly this topic—the Carbon Emissions from Buildings (Net Zero) Bill—and my very first Westminster Hall debate was on environmental building standards, so I am fully behind the new clause.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Twelfth sitting)

  In fairness, I did not draft the new clause. I recognise that it says six months, but as the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington spoke about so eloquently, we had proposals for net zero carbon building standards on the table 10 years ago. This has been in development for 20 years. The sector itself is way ahead of Government on this. A huge amount of work has been done by the Low Energy Transformation Initiative, the Royal Institute of British Architects and all sorts of organisations to develop zero carbon building standards.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Twelfth sitting)

  I rise to speak in support of new clause 7. I have spoken about flooding in the main Chamber at least five times. Constituents have come to see me in my surgeries to tell me that they have been flooded out of their new homes only six months after they were built, because of a lack of appropriate drainage. As climate change brings us greater extremes and severity of weather, we know that frequent flooding will become even more of a problem, so it is imperative that any new building is flood resilient.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Twelfth sitting)

• 15 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  The Minister asserts that the Bill maintains the mitigation hierarchy, but that is not set out anywhere in the text. The words “mitigation hierarchy” appear nowhere in the Bill. The word “mitigation” appears four times, always in relation to climate change. The word “avoid” appears only once, in relation to unavoidable delays to nationally significant infrastructure projects, and the word “harm” appears only once, in relation to commercial interests. If the Bill does not say anything about the mitigation hierarchy, mitigation or avoiding harm in relation to nature, how can the Minister claim that it upholds the mitigation hierarchy?

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Tenth sitting)

• 14 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  That is particularly relevant, as obviously our vital targets for decarbonisation require a modal shift away from short car journeys and towards active travel and public transport. Those forms of transport are especially supported by increasing housing density, so I would very much welcome the Minister’s comments on that.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Seventh sitting)

• 14 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  (cb) any reports and strategies produced under the Climate Change Act 2008,”

  This amendment would require Natural England to consider the Government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan and any reports or strategies published under the Climate Change Act when preparing an EDP.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eighth sitting)

  It is widely recognised that the climate and nature crises are deeply interconnected. However, although the Planning and Infrastructure Bill rightly requires Natural England to consult the Environment Agency and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, it fails to require it to consult the Climate Change Committee or the Office for Environmental Protection. Furthermore, when developing an environmental delivery plan, although there is an obligation to have regard to the current environmental improvement plan and any strategies under the Environment Act 2021, there is no obligation to consider the Climate Change Act 2008 or the Government’s carbon budget delivery plan.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eighth sitting)

  “(fa) the Climate Change Committee,

  This amendment would add the Climate Change Committee and the Office for Environmental Protection to the list of parties who must be consulted on a draft EDP by Natural England.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eighth sitting)

  I will not repeat the points I made in my previous speech, which were effectively about the same substance. However, it seems an oversight that the Climate Change Committee and the Office for Environmental Protection are not named in the long list of organisations to be consulted on an EDP. I gently ask the Minister to take that point away and to treat it as a constructive suggestion, to ensure that we have clarity and that the voices of those crucial bodies are included, alongside those of all the other organisations that are to be consulted on a draft EDP.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eighth sitting)

  The fact that there is a long list of 10 people that it should consult indicates that the Government think it is important that certain parties be consulted. I suggest that the Climate Change Committee and the OEP ought to be in that list. If the Minister is not willing to put this in the Bill, I ask him to consider putting it in the regulations or guidance that he is indicating in paragraph (i). I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Eighth sitting)

• 13 May 2025: Tweet

  Brilliant to stand alongside Chris Packham, Sir David King, and over 150 scientists at today’s Science to Politics event, gathering outside Parliament to bring their expertise directly to govt and demand urgent action on the climate emergency. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1922293483458425051/photo/1 [Source]

• 02 May 2025: Tweet

  Let’s set the record straight: it's Putin’s war and our reliance on gas driving up bills—not net zero. We need clean, green, affordable energy now. Watch the full clip here: https://bsky.app/profile/elliechowns.bsky.social/post/3lo6owprfo225 https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1918262321110978949/video/1 [Source]

• 1 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  This week, an important report was published on the topic of climate change—not the one by the formerly high-profile politician whose consultancy has done work for major fossil fuel producers such as Saudi Arabia, but the one published by the Committee on Climate Change yesterday on adaptation. That report pointed out that this country’s approach to adaptation is not working and needs urgent strengthening, and that we are woefully unprepared for the reality of the impacts of climate change, which are already with us and will get worse, especially if the flat-earthers who seek to deny it and to change policy direction get their way. Will the Leader of the House ask the Prime Minister to make a statement recognising the urgency of adaptation and committing in the spending review to the funding needed to make the country resilient to the heat stress and flooding that will inevitably follow if we do not tackle the reality of the climate crisis?

  Full debate: Business of the House

• 1 May 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  Given the huge economic and environmental effects of burning fossil fuels, it is clear that the future of energy has to be clean, green, cheap renewables, plus energy efficiency. All of us who care about fact-based, truth-based politics should call out the outrageous misinformation from those who suggest that net zero is the reason for high energy prices, when it clearly is not. Gas prices have gone through the roof in recent years, and we all know why: because of Putin’s outrageous invasion of Ukraine. That is why companies and businesses are struggling.

  There are two specific things that the Government can and should do to help precisely those businesses: first, decouple the price of electricity from gas so that the true costs of generating electricity are reflected in the price that consumers pay; and secondly, implement a carbon tax in order to be able to use those revenues to assist industries to make the just transition from fossil fuels to the clean, green, cheap energies of the future.

  Full debate: Energy Prices: Energy-intensive Industries

• 24 Apr 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  It is also crucial to understand that the system has long-term goals, future generations being one of them, and addressing the climate crisis being another. Within three to five years, the repeated impacts from climate change will be the dominant political issue we confront, and we need a system that works for that, as well as for housing growth.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Second sitting)

• 24 Apr 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  We recently went almost 10 years without an update on the energy strategy. In rewriting that strategy, the challenge is that you start with a large strategic ambition that can be contained in half a page and, if you are not careful, you finish with 25 pages that follow on and set out all the ways in which that ambition must be satisfied while dealing with environmental, community or any other concerns. The challenge will remain that we are trying to do two or three things at once here: we are trying to deliver major economic growth and infrastructure that will enable us to be resilient, to deal with climate change, to reduce the impacts of carbon and so on, while also recognising that local people will always have concerns about the impact of that infrastructure on their lives, and the—in a sense—compensation that they may face from that.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (First sitting)

  The bit that we want to keep an open mind on, however, is the fact that we need to have a system that is robust enough and has those safeguards, but that also allows flexibility in how we operate it for years to come. Nature is changing in the way it responds to climate change. Society is recognising that it needs different things from nature, with nature-based solutions to climate change and more nature for health and wellbeing, as well as just the protection of rare species. There is something about getting that balance right to have a system that is workable in a place, and that is adaptable to what a community needs and to a particular development, but that maintains that overall aim to make nature better.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (First sitting)

• 24 Apr 2025: Tweet

  One million people from across the UK made their views known: no new oil and gas. I joined campaigners from key climate organisations delivering this message to the government. Approving new fossil fuel projects in the middle of a climate crisis is reckless. ????: David Mirzeoff https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1915332539373269427/photo/1 [Source]

• 09 Apr 2025: Tweet

  I welcome reports that the government is considering nationalising the steel industry. On BBC Radio 5 Live, I spoke about how it is vital that the industry has every support possible to make a just transition to green steel. Watch the full clip here: https://bsky.app/profile/elliechowns.bsky.social/post/3lmfchvv3ps2d https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1910007296408559822/video/1 [Source]

• 09 Apr 2025: Tweet

  The cost of reaching net zero isn’t just affordable—it’s a bargain. For the equivalent of £5 a month for someone on an average wage, we could achieve a liveable future. Watch the full clip here: https://bsky.app/profile/elliechowns.bsky.social/post/3lmet45v4n22d https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1909922432288195033/video/1 [Source]

• 28 Mar 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  Does my hon. Friend agree that we have the example of the citizens’ assembly on climate change, which was established jointly by six Select Committees of this House a couple of years ago?

  Full debate: Water Bill

  Secondly, climate change is a systemic challenge. I am glad that some hon. Members have mentioned this and that it is included in the text of the Bill because, as the hon. Member for Norwich South said, it is a huge problem when there is too little water. Too much water is also a huge problem, and that problem is increasing.

  I have already spoken several times in this House about flooding in my constituency. Climate change is making these challenges more frequent and more severe, so any Water Bill needs to address not only the water industry, water supply and sewage, but also climate change and its interactions with water. I am pleased that is mentioned in the Bill.

  Full debate: Water Bill

• 25 Mar 2025: Tweet

  This afternoon, I joined my fellow Green MPs outside the Treasury with a clear message: our economy is broken, and it’s failing ordinary people. We need bold action to tackle inequality and the climate crisis—business as usual isn't working. It’s time to rebalance the economy. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1904601679602778523/photo/1 [Source]

• 24 Mar 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  We need joined-up policy: a new climate and nature duty on all planning authorities to ensure that all policies tackle our Climate Change Act 2008 and Environment Act 2021 obligations. Planning is crucial for tackling the climate crisis and reducing the environmental impact of new development. We need solar panels on roofs and high levels of insulation. There is nothing here on zero-carbon heating or embodied carbon. There is also nothing on climate adaptation. I find it quite extraordinary that in 160 pages there is not a single mention of the words flood or flooding, yet they are crucial to planning and infrastructure. We need to ensure that the Bill plans for active and public transport. Let us see a “no net new traffic growth” test applied to all developments, so we incentivise the shift to active and public transport.

  Full debate: Planning and Infrastructure Bill

• 24 Mar 2025: Tweet

  A big Green win! The govt has confirmed it will move ahead with a new Natural History GCSE—something we’ve long fought for. Delighted to have helped secure this commitment. Now let’s make sure it truly equips young people to protect nature & tackle the climate crisis! https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1904216642013323520/photo/1 [Source]

• 22 Mar 2025: Tweet

  Tonight, people around the world will unite for #EarthHour, switching off lights to show solidarity for our planet and support climate action. It’s more than just one hour—it’s a moment to reflect on how we can protect nature & tackle the climate crisis. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1903506964648525872/photo/1 [Source]

• 18 Mar 2025: Tweet

  The Tory plan to drop the UK’s net zero commitment is ecologically and economically illiterate. Climate action is essential for our future prosperity—abandoning it will cost us dearly in jobs, energy security, and global leadership. We need progress, not reckless backtracking. [Source]

• 13 Mar 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I could not agree more. This has diminished trust. It is vital to rebuild that trust because we need that sustainable, fair and in-partnership future for farming. It needs to be sustainable in environmental terms— we need to recognise the reality of the climate crisis and the nature crisis. We need to support our farmers to make the vital transition to nature-friendly farming. Farmers in North Herefordshire are at the forefront of that, but they need the Government to back them, not knock them off their feet with policy changes with zero notice.

  Full debate: Farming

• 04 Mar 2025: Tweet

  Last week I joined colleagues from the Environmental Audit Committee for a visit to the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. It was an absolutely fascinating day—@NOCsouthampton's expertise is vital in helping us understand and tackle the climate crisis. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1896832993169121607/photo/1 [Source]

• 01 Mar 2025: Tweet

  Slashing aid isn’t just cruel—it’s reckless. From active conflict zones to developing nations, these cuts weaken peacebuilding and hand influence to Russia and China. Security means tackling cyber threats, pandemics, and the climate crisis, not just spending on bombs and guns. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1895807841493287036/video/1 [Source]

• 28 Feb 2025: Tweet

  A busy week in Westminster: I challenged the govt. on cuts to foreign aid and banking access in Kington and visited the National Oceanography Centre to discuss climate impacts. The latest climate report shows we can reach net zero at a bargain price—there’s everything to play for https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1895519342495699313/video/1 [Source]

• 27 Feb 2025: Tweet

  Climate change is already here, and we need to adapt — stronger infrastructure, better flood defences, and real resilience. But we also have a choice: keep heading toward catastrophe or change course now. There is still everything to play for. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1895111256991834479/video/1 [Source]

• 26 Feb 2025: Tweet

  The climate crisis is unprecedented—we can’t afford to ignore it. Tackling the climate crisis isn’t just about the planet, it’s about people: warmer homes, lower bills, and a brighter future. The government must step up and lead. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1894794557881229561/video/1 [Source]

• 11 Feb 2025: Tweet

  Farmers are key to tackling flooding, food security & climate change, but they aren’t getting the support they need. I spoke on BBC Politics Midlands about why the Govt. must listen to those on the ground. Extreme weather is here, and we need urgent action. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1889222847551180960/video/1 [Source]

• 10 Feb 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I feel that the way the policy has been introduced is deeply regrettable, not only because it has caused such huge distress to the farming community—we are all aware of the mental health challenges that those in the community face anyway, and this has made it worse—but because it hugely undermines the much more positive and constructive conversations that Government and farmers desperately need to have in order to face the challenges of food production, job generation, tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity. Those are areas where farmers and Government need to work hand in hand for the long term, but all of that has been blown up in the air by the way the policy has been introduced—it is super frustrating.

  Full debate: Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms

• 28 Jan 2025: Tweet

  In the Environmental Audit Committee, I questioned Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on aligning infrastructure decisions with climate targets. Visit my Instagram, Facebook, or Bluesky to see the full clip. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1884217361026126239/video/1 [Source]

• 24 Jan 2025: Tweet

  I spoke in Parliament today backing the Climate and Nature Bill. Sadly, after the Government pressured their MPs, the majority chose not to have a vote on the Bill, meaning it won’t become law. This delay is a serious setback in tackling the climate crisis. We need action now. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1882865955803717886/video/1 [Source]

• 23 Jan 2025: Tweet

  Flooding devastates communities like mine—and the system is failing people. In the Environmental Audit Committee, I asked how climate change, with its heavier and more frequent storms, is pushing the limits of our country’s flood resilience. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1882473372090589457/video/1 [Source]

• 22 Jan 2025: Tweet

  Today the Environmental Audit Committee will discuss the current Government's approaches to flood resilience, and what may be needed in the face of climate change. I've said it time and time again: urgent action on climate change and investment in climate adaptation is needed now https://twitter.com/CommonsEAC/status/1881627796838990196 [Source]

• 22 Jan 2025: Tweet

  I fully support the Climate and Nature Bill and will be voting to progress it this Friday. I've said it before and will keep saying it: we must take urgent action to address the climate emergency and protect our planet for future generations. https://twitter.com/zerohour_uk/status/1881657050134090201 [Source]

• 21 Jan 2025: Tweet

  RT @EllieChowns: We’ve waited far too long to act on the climate crisis. Renewables are the cheapest option, but decades of failed invest… [Source]

• 17 Jan 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  I have been listening carefully to what the Minister has said. Does he agree that a vote on Second Reading is a vote on the principle of the Bill, and the objections that he has been raising are micro, technical ones? Does he not agree that the urgency of the climate crisis and the immense benefits associated with solar PV mean that he should stop raining on the parade of this Bill and give us the opportunity to vote on photons?

  Full debate: New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill

• 17 Jan 2025: Tweet

  RT @TheGreenParty: "It's really, really cheap." @EllieChowns makes the case for a faster transition to renewable energy to bring down peop… [Source]

• 16 Jan 2025: Tweet

  Great to meet with @floodmary yesterday to discuss flooding and resilience. North Herefordshire knows the devastating impacts of flooding all too well. It’s time to take climate change seriously and invest in adaptation. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1879861228744630394/photo/1 [Source]

• 16 Jan 2025: Tweet

  We’ve waited far too long to act on the climate crisis. Renewables are the cheapest option, but decades of failed investment in grid infrastructure and energy efficiency are holding us back. It’s time for bold policies to deliver the green economic transformation we need. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1879815985030660370/video/1 [Source]

• 09 Jan 2025: Tweet

  Earlier this week North Herefordshire was hit by flooding for the fourth month in a row. I have said it before and will keep saying it: we must take urgent action on the climate crisis and invest in adaptation before it’s too late. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1877385365234897354/video/1 [Source]

• 6 Jan 2025: Parliamentary Speech

  In her statement, the Minister mentioned the fact that climate change means that these incidents will become more frequent and severe, but there was no explicit mention of climate adaptation in the measures she set out. In our response to this issue, we surely have to take the challenge of climate adaptation seriously as a whole-of-Government challenge. The chair of the Climate Change Committee has said that the UK is “not ready”, so what is the Minister doing with colleagues across Government to ensure we take the challenge of climate adaptation as seriously as possible? Otherwise, we will be back here month after month.

  Full debate: Flooding

• 17 Dec 2024: Tweet

  There is so much important work to be done to tackle the housing and climate crises. Vocational education will be central to this. To create homes and an economy fit for the future, we'll need more investment and a greater focus on attracting young people into vital trades. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1868948886741827661/video/1 [Source]

• 10 Dec 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Storm Darragh brought 96 mph winds, flooding and power outages, and it came hot on the heels of Storm Bert, which brought severe rainfall and terrible flooding. Given the strong evidence that links increasing frequency and severity of storms with climate change, may I ask for the Minister’s response to the comments of Emma Pinchbeck, the new chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, who said at the weekend that the UK was “not ready” for these increasingly severe impacts of climate change? What are the Government doing, and what will they do, to make adaptation an urgent national priority?

  Full debate: Storm Darragh

• 10 Dec 2024: Tweet

  1st: Carbon Emissions from Buildings (Net Zero) Bill Buildings can produce a lot of carbon emissions - both in construction (what's called 'embodied carbon') and and over their lifetime ('operational carbon'). This bill would require new builds to meet net zero standards. 2/ [Source]

• 10 Dec 2024: Tweet

  Climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and more severe. But - as Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of the Climate Change Committee, says - the UK is not ready for its impacts. Government must make adaption a national priority. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1866495865990287441/video/1 [Source]

• 27 Nov 2024: Tweet

  We need to shift to zero emissions vehicles, and industry needs clarity, not uncertainty. Government has a big part to play in incentivising demand - starting by paving the way for universal charging infrastructure. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1861782599678464211/video/1 [Source]

• 21 Nov 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Time is running out at COP29 and the clock is ticking on the climate crisis. I welcome the leadership shown by the Prime Minister in attending COP29 and setting ambitious targets for the UK. The need to agree a global finance goal is vital, and making progress in Baku is clearly challenging. Will he assure me that he is pulling out all the stops this week to ensure that an agreement is reached and that it will be adequate to meet the needs of the poorest countries? Will he assure the House that the UK’s pledges will be primarily in the form of grants?

  Full debate: G20 and COP29 Summits

• 21 Nov 2024: Tweet

  It’s vital that COP29 agrees an ambitious new global climate finance goal. The UK needs to pull out all the stops to ensure agreement is reached in Baku. And it’s crucial that the UK’s pledges be primarily in the form of grants. The clock is ticking. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1859654236843426283/video/1 [Source]

• 14 Nov 2024: Tweet

  Take a moment to think about this. 2.7C rise will have unthinkable impacts. We are like the proverbial frogs in the warming saucepan. How loud does the #climateemergency alarm need to ring before we all recognise the urgency of action? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2024/nov/14/cop29-live-can-the-climate-summit-find-a-way-to-raise-1tn-a-year?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other [Source]

• 14 Nov 2024: Tweet

  Ongoing climate chaos in Spain must be call to action. Worldwide, people on frontline of emergency are being let down. We need leaders at #COP29 to deliver on keeping fossil fuels in ground, integrating climate in every policy decision & on climate justice https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/13/spain-flood-warnings-schools-closed-people-evacuated?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other [Source]

• 30 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  That this House has considered COP29 and international climate finance.

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

  Thank you, Sir Roger—I am still learning the ropes. I thank the Minister for coming to respond to the debate. It is my pleasure to introduce this debate on international climate finance, and I particularly appreciate the presence of so many colleagues, given that it is an extraordinarily busy day when, with the Budget, we are discussing domestic finance. I may have one or two words to say on that in a moment.

  This debate is particularly important, because we are in the run-up to COP29—the conference of the parties—in Baku. It is supposed to be the finance COP, because it is crucial that we mobilise the necessary finance to tackle the global climate crisis. My purpose in securing this debate is to encourage the Government to put a bit more flesh on the warm words that we have heard so far. I recognise those warm words: for example, the Foreign Secretary saying that he wanted to put climate change “at the centre” of foreign policy—that is welcome—and the commitments from the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on domestic investment. However, there is still much more to do.

  I will give the Minister advance notice of the topics on which I would love her response. At COP29, we are looking for the international community to agree a new collective quantified goal for climate finance in the trillions of dollars, not the billions. That is the scale of the challenge that we face. Do the Government recognise that, and are they prepared to play their part in leading from the front to ensure that there is collective commitment to the goal?

  International climate finance needs to tackle mitigation, as well as the urgent need to invest to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It needs to tackle adaptation, because an enormous amount of global warming is already built into the climate system through historical emissions. It also needs to tackle loss and damage: the costs that are already being borne particularly by the most vulnerable in the poorest countries, and are due to the historical debt that early industrialising countries built up through our burning of fossil fuels.

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

  My third point is that it is essential that international climate finance comes largely in the form of grants, not loans. The UK Government generally have a good record: roughly 85% of the climate finance we have committed has been through the form of grants, and I believe that commitment is in place until 2026. Will the Minister commit to that figure remaining a floor? Will she seek to increase it, so that the vast majority of climate finance is provided in such a way that it does not build up debt repayment problems for the future?

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

  Absolutely. The hon. Member makes a very important point, which relates to the one I made at the beginning: we cannot avoid the fact that we in the UK have an historical responsibility to take action on climate finance. We need to ensure that we are not storing up further problems for the future by providing climate finance in the form of loans, which make things harder for the poorest people in the poorest countries. Frankly, it is a scandal that, as he says, so many people in the poorest countries find that their Governments are spending more on debt repayments than they are on investment in crucial health and education, which build what we sometimes call the human capital that is so essential to sustainable development in such countries. I very much hope that the Government will lead on this issue and ensure that climate finance is in the form of grants—all of it, if possible, but at least the very largest proportion of it.

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

  I thank the hon. Member for making that point. This debate is on international climate finance, but I am happy to address his question about the interaction between domestic policy and the climate crisis that we face. I was disappointed not to hear in the Budget statement any commitment on climate or nature. Indeed, reading the detail on page 37 of the Budget, we will have a real-terms 2% decrease in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs budget over the next two years. Investment, however, is vital. Nature-friendly farming in the UK is one of the crucial ways to reduce our own emissions and get a little closer to doing our fair share of mitigating climate change. Another issue close to my heart is the role of DEFRA in tackling water pollution, and again we are not seeing that. I agree that investment domestically in nature-friendly farming and environmental policies is crucial. We have to put our money where our mouth is, and we have to ensure that we ourselves are on track to meet our climate goals.

  At COP28 last year, the stocktake found that the world is off track to meet the 1.5° target. In itself, that commits us to serious effects already. In real life, we see increasing drought and wildfires, and the increasing frequency and severity of flooding in our own country. We know that climate change is happening. We have to do everything possible domestically to tackle it.

  My fourth point is that international climate finance must be additional to aid. In recent years, we have seen not only a shameful, in my view, reduction in the overseas development assistance budget—I strongly urge the Government to bring that back up to 0.7% as soon as possible—but the wrapping of all sorts of other costs into the ODA budget. A real risk, if we put international climate finance into the ODA budget, is less money to spend on health, education and all those policies that are so essential to tackling international poverty and inequality. International climate finance must be treated separately from ODA.

  My fifth point is about where the money should come from. Again, that is an important topic on Budget day, and indeed I will digress slightly to comment on the Budget. One policy we have seen today is a retention of the fuel duty freeze, which is effectively a subsidy for fossil fuels. That is clearly incompatible with the Government’s rhetoric on climate change. We should lead the way as a country in pushing for “polluter pays” taxes to generate the finance necessary to meet what I hope will be strong and ambitious international climate finance goals, because—to recap—this is urgent. 2024 is on track to be the hottest year ever on record. This change is going only one way. I do not know how many economists and scientists we need to tell us that the investment must come early—as soon as possible—because the transition will get more and more expensive. The longer we leave it, the costlier it will be, not just financially, but in terms of the effect on human lives. COP29 is a crucial moment in the international climate negotiations.

  I very much look forward to hearing from the Minister how she will ensure that the UK plays a leading role, putting our money where our mouth is and doing everything possible to influence international partners to ensure that climate finance is sufficient to address the challenge that we face.

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

  I refer back to the figure that the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) mentioned—the UN’s finding that we need £600 billion of international climate finance per year to address the challenge that we face. That is actually the same amount that is invested in oil and gas every year. Does the Minister agree that we must put a complete end to all public subsidy or support for fossil fuel industries right now? Can she comment on the role that the UK could and should play in ending all such subsidies?

  Full debate: COP29 and International Climate Finance

• 25 Oct 2024: Tweet

  It was great to chat with the inspiring nature campaigner Mya-Rose Craig @BirdgirlUK and others at this MP briefing on the nature crisis, organised jointly by the @ClimateAPPG and @EnvironmentAPPG earlier this week ???????? https://twitter.com/ClimateAPPG/status/1848687159097561470 [Source]

• 22 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  T3. I welcome this Government’s ambition in seeking a new climate finance goal at COP29 in Baku shortly. Will the Minister assure me that she understands the scale of need? The UN Environment Programme says that 10 to 18 times more funding is needed for adaptation than is currently on the table. Will she make sure that it includes loss and damage and is additional to aid?

  Full debate: Topical Questions

• 22 Oct 2024: Tweet

  Ahead of COP 29 I asked the Government to commit to a new global climate finance goal that: ✅recognises the huge scale of the adaptation challenge ✅ addresses loss and damage ✅ and is additional to aid The UK must show leadership in Baku. https://x.com/EllieChowns/status/1848752217576141032/video/1 [Source]

• 17 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  This week is Flood Action Week, an important opportunity to raise awareness of this crucial issue. This week, sadly, North Herefordshire has been subject to flooding: roads are closed, schools are closed and soil is washing off the fields into the roads and rivers. Unfortunately, climate change is making these events more frequent and more extreme. Does the Leader of the House agree that farmers are crucial partners in tackling flooding through natural flood management? Will she make time for a debate in Government time on the crucial issue of flood prevention and action?

  Full debate: Business of the House

• 15 Oct 2024: Tweet

  As climate change makes flooding more likely and more extreme, it's important that everyone knows the risks and knows how to prepare. You can sign up for flood warnings and find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings 2/ [Source]

• 10 Oct 2024: Tweet

  Climate change is the biggest threat to our food security, and our farmers are on the frontline. For our food security, our economy, and our future, Govt needs to act urgently to both limit the impacts of climate change and help farmers adapt. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/10/harvest-in-england-the-second-worst-on-record-because-of-wet-weather [Source]

• 8 Oct 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  I very much hope the Secretary of State and his Ministers agree that if we are serious about energy security and net zero, we must be serious about energy efficiency. What steps are they taking, in addition to working on insulating existing homes, to ensure that the promised 1.5 million new homes are built to net zero standards, have solar panels on the roof, and are fully insulated so that every new home is a warm home?

  Full debate: Warm Homes Plan

• 24 Sep 2024: Tweet

  If Keir Starmer is serious about national renewal, how about renewing our NHS by linking it with social care & funding it properly? If he's serious about 'building to last', how about ensuring those 1.5m new houses are fit for the net zero future? #LabourConference2024 [Source]

• 19 Sep 2024: Tweet

  We need more action from the Government on climate change to go with their warm words. As a start they should: Tax the oil and gas giants. Invest in energy efficiency measures like home insulation. Commit to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1836728191723163981/video/1 [Source]

• 19 Sep 2024: Tweet

  The cost of not tackling climate change will be far greater than the cost of tackling climate change. We've known this for 20 years. Now we urgently need that upfront investment in measures like home insulation that long-term will benefit us all. https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1836712657577013375/video/1 [Source]

• 12 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  The Climate Change Committee did a report on the UK’s housing stock in 2019. It estimated that in 2050 80% of houses in this country will be houses that are already built, so we clearly have a massive job to do when we think about environmental standards and retrofitting the buildings that we already have. However, I am concerned to discuss the 20% of houses that will be new, because the worst possible outcome could be that we build lots and lots of new houses but to poor standards, thus requiring the retrofitting of those houses, too, so let us focus on new build homes.

  This is not a new topic. One of the helpful briefings I read in preparation for this debate, from the House of Commons Library, which I recommend to everyone—it produces fantastic materials—reminded me that in 2006, the then Labour Government said that they would amend the building regulations to require all new homes to have net zero carbon emissions by 2016. Of course, that policy was scrapped by the Conservatives in 2015, but we are now eight years on from the point at which Labour previously thought that all new homes should be net zero carbon. This is the moment for the new Labour Government to fulfil that promise and put in place regulations to ensure that ambition will actually come to pass—better late than never.

  I will speak today about five key aspects of environmental standards for new housing: maximising energy efficiency; minimising embodied carbon; maximising on-site energy generation, particularly rooftop solar; maximising biodiversity in the construction of new homes; and maximising resilience against things like flooding and overheating, which will become more and more important as time goes by and climate change becomes a reality that hits us ever harder.

  The first aspect is maximising energy efficiency. To meet the Government’s own carbon targets, almost all buildings will need to fully decarbonise. It is not just me who says that—it was in the Government’s heat and buildings strategy back in 2021. That is what the future homes standard was supposed to ensure. However, the version of the future homes standard that is being consulted on is looking at a 75% improvement on 2013 levels by 2030, which is neither good enough nor strong enough. We need to get to all homes being net zero carbon as soon as possible.

  I also ask the Minister to lift the restriction placed by the previous Government on local authorities setting higher standards for house building in their areas. I do not think that local authorities setting piecemeal higher standards is the way we will get to a decarbonised housing sector, but we should not hold them back from going further and faster while we wait for Government to show the necessary leadership on a national level. We have too much piecemeal policy on this, both between local authorities and between the four nations of the UK. We need to ensure that we are united in a race to the top for standards, not a race to the bottom.

  Full debate: New Housing: Environmental Standards

  My fifth point is on maximising resilience. We must face up to the fact that the climate crisis means that some extremes of weather will be baked in. We must recognise that adaptation has to be part of what we do, as well as mitigation of the climate impact.

  I have a present for the Minister to take away. A few years ago, in Herefordshire, we developed a thing called “Herefordshire Future Homes”, in which we assessed a whole range of building standards, because of the bewildering array of initiatives in place. The industry is now coalescing around the net zero housing standard, which is good news, but we also looked at things such as water efficiency, biodiversity and so on. I will give this document to the Minister after the debate to feed into his work.

  Let me remind the Minister what the Government could and should do. They could ensure that all new homes had ultra-high levels of energy efficiency and were built to an EPC A standard right now, with a glide path through to net zero housing standards as soon as possible. Let us resist the pressure from developers to water down the standards, and let us give local authorities the freedom they need to put in place higher standards initially. Let us incorporate embodied carbon in the future homes standard, and set regulations for whole-life carbon limits aligned with the industry’s building standard of net zero carbon.

  I have not mentioned this much, but waste and recycling in construction is a core and enormous part of our waste economy. There are significant opportunities for a more circular economy approach. Let us also specify that all new homes should have solar panels on top and swift bricks everywhere. Let us ensure that all new homes are climate change-resilient.

  Full debate: New Housing: Environmental Standards

• 12 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Since 4 July, more than 40 people have been jailed in the UK for peaceful acts of conscience: some for protesting climate breakdown, some for taking measures to stop violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza. The UN special rapporteur, Michel Forst, has made public statements to the effect that these sentences violate international law and are not acceptable in a democracy. With our prisons in crisis and radical measures necessary, as we have seen with the release of prisoners this week, will the Attorney General issue guidance to judges to ensure that sentencing for peaceful protest is realigned with common sense, democratic principles and international law?

  Full debate: Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme

• 10 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  In the spirit of focusing on what brings us together highlighted by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), I will not spend too long responding to the comments of the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) regarding the nuclear industry. Although I agree with him about other areas where he has policy expertise, in this particular policy area we need to focus on the quick, clean, green renewable energy investment that, luckily, his Government are driving forward. That should be our focus.

  Secondly, will the Minister comment on whether the Prime Minister will attend COP29 to demonstrate the leadership that is so urgently needed? Will he show leadership, not followership, regardless of the outcome of the American election and regardless of what is happening in terms of policy elsewhere in the world, including in China and the EU? We need UK leadership on the global stage at COP29; will the Prime Minister provide that?

  Finally, the new collective quantified goal that colleagues have referred to is urgently needed. Will the Government commit to increasing overseas development assistance back up to 0.7% of GNI as soon as possible? Will they commit to international climate finance that is new and additional to official development assistance? Will they also commit to putting in place the “polluter pays” fiscal mechanisms that are required to finance our nationally required contribution to recognising our historical responsibility for the global problem of climate change, and to putting in place the measures necessary to enable every country globally to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change that are coming down the road whether we like it or not?

  Full debate: COP29: UK Priorities

• 05 Sep 2024: Tweet

  We need a laser focus on net zero if we are to achieve a green economic transformation. I spoke to @daily_express about the need to ensure that all economic policies take account of climate change. https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1944321/ellie-chowns-green-party-climate-change-environment [Source]

• 4 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for her excellent maiden speech. Indeed, we have heard more than half a dozen excellent maiden speeches today, several of which touched on the climate crisis and the future of children in our country, themes that relate to my amendment. I was touched to hear the passion with which all the new Members spoke about their experiences and commitments.

  My amendment 5 requires the OBR to report on the impact of fiscally significant measures announced by the Government on the UK’s statutory net zero target. The justification for my amendment is that we simply cannot separate the economy and the climate—they are interlinked. To deliver the green economic transformation that we so urgently need, as referenced by hon. Members speaking earlier, every single policy must be aligned with the UK’s net zero target and every Government spending decision should be as well.

  It makes sense to increase the OBR’s remit on net zero to specifically consider the impact of climate risks on economic stability, and how far policies introduced at fiscal events will reduce or increase these risks. Fiscal events, namely Budgets and spending reviews, lock in what is happening in our economy for years to come, even generations, so it beggars belief that they are not properly taking account of climate impacts. Whether those policies are spending on new roads, subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas, investment in renewables infrastructure or giveaways like a freeze on fuel duty, they all have direct impacts on the UK’s prospect of meeting our net zero targets. Those impacts should be made clear and considered explicitly in the policy-making paper. We need to be thinking about the impacts of today’s economic policies on the prospects for future generations.

  The costs of failing to take an approach that considers climate impacts are eye watering. A 2022 report by the Grantham Institute found that climate change damages to the UK are projected to triple by 2050 and more than double again 50 years later, so climate prudence and fiscal prudence are one and the same thing. Given that the OBR’s main duty is to assess the health of the UK economy and the sustainability of its public finances, it needs to be charged with assessing whether fiscal events are reducing or increasing climate risks to the economy.

  Bringing net zero into the OBR’s mandate is consistent with the Government’s five missions. Indeed, in announcing its clean energy superpower document, Labour said that it will add net zero mandates to all relevant regulators that need it. I would argue that the OBR is a relevant regulator that needs a net zero mandate. That is why I am proposing this probing amendment today. As other Members have mentioned, it would also represent increased transparency around how fiscal policy choices are impacting the UK’s progress towards our net zero targets and help ensure that future Governments also consider that.

  It is also an important stepping stone towards a net zero test, which would assess the aggregate climate and nature impact of every fiscal event. Again, this is something that Labour committed to in opposition. In his winding-up remarks, will the Minister comment on whether he is able to ensure that this test is integrated into the legislation that he is proposing?

  I hope that Labour will use this opportunity to commit publicly to introducing a net zero test in government, and will take a step towards doing that by backing my amendment.

  Full debate: Budget Responsibility Bill

  Does the Minister agree that having committed to give a net zero mandate to all relevant regulators, the OBR is indeed a highly relevant regulator?

  Full debate: Budget Responsibility Bill

• 04 Sep 2024: Tweet

  Indeed, bringing net zero into the OBR's mandate is in line with the Government's five missions and their proposal to add net zero mandates to all relevant regulators. That should surely apply to the OBR, and I urge the Government to integrate a net zero test into the OBR's remit https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1831369330103300200/video/1 [Source]

• 04 Sep 2024: Tweet

  We cannot separate the economy and climate change. Today I tabled an amendment to the Budget Responsibility Bill that would require the OBR to consider the impact of fiscally significant Government decisions on its statutory net zero target. https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1831369327238647961/video/1 [Source]

• 2 Sep 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Given the Government’s ambitious house building plans, the energy crisis and the climate crisis, will the Minister bring forward legislation in the forthcoming planning and infrastructure Bill to ensure all new houses have solar panels on their roofs as standard, so they can generate their own power, and net zero building standards are brought forward as soon as possible, so that homes are well insulated, warm and cheap to heat?

  Full debate: New Build Homes: Construction Standards

• 26 Jul 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  Does the Minister agree that the energy crisis is a matter not just of supply but of demand, and that the cheapest bill is the one that does not have to be paid because the energy is not being used? Does he intend to announce today ways of tackling the demand side? We could, for example, ensure that all new buildings are built to net zero standards, and announce a timeline for getting to that point as soon as possible. We could also announce a nationwide, street-by-street insulation programme to tackle the need for energy efficiency; that is the cheapest and quickest way to address the energy crisis. If he is not going to make those announcements today, when will they be made?

  Full debate: Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower

• 26 Jul 2024: Tweet

  There is much to welcome in the Government's plans for renewable energy. But we also need rapid transition away from North Sea oil and gas, and urgent action on energy efficiency. Govt should ????stop climate-wrecking Rosebank project ????invest in nationwide home insulation. https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1816919987078258947/video/1 [Source]

• 26 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Warm words from @mgshanks on warm homes but nothing specific. Will the govt legislate for net zero building standards? Will the govt invest to insulate homes & stop the scandal of fuel poverty? @Ed_Miliband it’s your call. The energy crisis is about demand not just supply. [Source]

• 25 Jul 2024: Tweet

  “Climate change is dramatically increasing the frequency of extreme high temperatures in the UK” new Met Office analysis confirms. Another alarm bell. ⁦@UKLabour⁩: We need better building standards, insulation & transport, as well as renewables. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c147v82gxp2o [Source]

• 18 Jul 2024: Parliamentary Speech

  For too long, the previous Government neglected the opportunities offered by the green economic transformation, and I very much hope that this new Government will not make the same mistake. The King’s Speech indicated some welcome steps in the right direction, but we need to do more to renew and rebuild our economy on a sustainable basis, one that is compatible with the challenge of climate change that so many Members have said they recognise.

  Full debate: Foreign Affairs and Defence

• 09 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Good to see this. Vital to draw on expertise like that of @StarkClimate to drive forward the green transformation we need to tackle the climate crisis. https://twitter.com/energygovuk/status/1810723126772191296 [Source]

• 08 Jul 2024: Tweet

  Greens welcome the Government dropping the blanket ban on onshore wind turbines. This absurd Conservative policy has delayed our shift to renewable energy by years. It's time to build the green energy infrastructure we need for the future. [Source]

• 08 Feb 2024: Tweet

  "This far exceeds anything that is acceptable" - Prof Sir Bob Watson. Indeed. We urgently need politicians who recognise the reality of the climate crisis and are prepared to step up and take action to create a better future. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68110310 [Source]

• 25 Oct 2023: Tweet

  ???? Renewable energy is the perfect example of a good investment to tackle climate change and the cost of living. ???? It's the greenest AND cheapest way to produce electricity. ???? Let's invest in renewables and green industries like retrofit to lower bills and emissions. https://twitter.com/TheGreenParty/status/1717182803333271821 [Source]

• 21 Sep 2023: Tweet

  @RishiSunak on @BBCr4today - pure doublethink. He wants to 'change direction' but supposedly still reach #NetZero while delaying action while magically having no impact on whether UK achieves climate targets. Utterly vacuous and irresponsible. [Source]

• 31 Jul 2023: Tweet

  Sunak's announcement is doublethink, plain and simple. New oil & gas is completely the opposite of what the UK should be doing. Sunak is digging his head in the sand rather than listening to climate science and the independent @theCCCuk. #NoNewFossilFuels https://twitter.com/TheGreenParty/status/1678733632263929857 [Source]

• 05 Jul 2023: Tweet

  Great to be at the #LGAconf23 with this fantastic group of @TheGreenParty councillors! ????Lots of inspiration re social housing, net zero and more ????Fascinating talk from @TheIFS on inequalities in local govt £ allocations ????Public services need fair & long-term funding. https://twitter.com/Cath_Braun/status/1676581717199470592 [Source]

• 03 Jul 2023: Tweet

  It seems like every day brings a new reminder of the #ClimateEmergency. And yet @theCCCuk report last week laid bare shameful inaction by our current govt. So every day we need to increase our determination for real #ClimateAction. #VoteGreen https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66084543 [Source]

• 28 Jun 2023: Tweet

  The govt's abject failure to act in the face of the climate crisis is inexcusable. This is why we urgently need more Greens elected. We have to change this. https://join.greenparty.org.uk/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jun/28/uk-has-made-no-progress-on-climate-plan-say-governments-own-advisers?CMP=share_btn_tw [Source]

• 11 Oct 2022: Tweet

  The Conservative #AttackOnNature continues. The short-sightedness of this govt is breathtaking. We need new housing AND net zero AND biodiversity. A push to the top, not a race to the bottom. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/oct/10/levelling-up-secretarys-planning-reset-could-reopen-tory-splits-over-housebuilding [Source]

• 29 Jun 2022: Tweet

  Today's @theCCCuk report shows just how far off track we are on #ClimateAction. Biggest govt failure of all is on housing. No plan to insulate homes despite record rise in fuel costs. No action to ensure new homes are zero carbon. Govt *must* put its money where its mouth is. https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1541920308583698432 [Source]

• 13 May 2021: Tweet

  Addressing the #ClimateEmergency means seriously improving our homes. It's a triple win: warm homes, good jobs, lower emissions. But it needs investment. At @HfdsCouncil we're trying to find ways to fund this locally - but what's needed is need proper national govt action. https://twitter.com/CarolineLucas/status/1392865735995760648 [Source]

• 05 May 2021: Tweet

  We need more green voices in local, regional and national government to tackle the #ClimateEmergency #VoteGreen tomorrow wherever you are! https://twitter.com/guardianeco/status/1389522830082125827 [Source]

• 26 Apr 2021: Tweet

  "The message to local and central government is that fairness needs to be at the heart of policymaking as they consider how to bring down carbon emissions". Hear hear. ???? ‘Citizens’ juries’ deliver climate crisis verdict to Westminster https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/26/citizens-juries-deliver-climate-crisis-verdict-to-westminster [Source]

• 14 Apr 2021: Tweet

  ????Just been at the AGM of the wonderful #Herefordshire Green Network ????They've recently launched this brilliant website https://greatcollaboration.uk/ to help Parish Councils - and individuals - take action on climate change ????It's really interactive & easy to use - check it out! https://twitter.com/EllieChowns/status/1382392453815271437/photo/1 [Source]

• 28 Jan 2021: Tweet

  "Almost two thirds of people around the world now view climate change as a global emergency". And it's good that Biden is showing real ambition. UK govt now needs to put more money where its mouth is on climate. And stop digging up coal. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55802902 [Source]

• 07 Jan 2021: Tweet

  Exactly. It's shameful that the UK govt is supporting this coal project while posturing about its climate commitments. Fossil fuels have to stay in the ground, full stop. #ClimateEmergency https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1347177358458048512 [Source]

• 04 Jan 2021: Tweet

  Back to my virtual office today. In the inbox: flooding, Covid, climate crisis. So far 2021 is much like 2020... But here’s my New Year’s resolution: hope for the best, then work your socks off to make it happen! Plus: go for a walk every day ???????? [Source]

• 09 Dec 2020: Tweet

  CCC says “The message to the government is clear: the 2020s must be the decisive decade of progress and action on climate change”. Absolutely. #ClimateAction https://twitter.com/ChiefExecCCC/status/1336583150437363712 [Source]

• 04 Dec 2020: Tweet

  So at the same time as govt announces a welcome increase in the UK’s emissions reduction target to tackle #ClimateCrisis they’re also cutting investment in rail infrastructure? #doesnotcompute https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1334658331844239361 [Source]

• 27 Nov 2020: Tweet

  I'm super excited about this! Cabinet yesterday took a step closer to our ambition of building 2500 new council-owned affordable & sustainable homes over the next 10 years, compatible with our net zero 2030 commitment. A key aim for our coalition administration. ???????????? https://twitter.com/HfdsCouncil/status/1332361174671880197 [Source]

• 25 Nov 2020: Tweet

  ... and isn’t it amazing how billions has simultaneously been found for ‘defence’ - i.e. weaponry with no relevance to the real security threats we face - like, say, pandemics. Or climate crisis. £ billions literally taken from the poor to give to rich arms companies. A tragedy. [Source]

• 30 Mar 2020: Tweet

  The government's response to coronavirus shows we can tackle climate change and austerity in the same way, writes @CarolineLucas https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coronavirus-government-spending-austerity-climate_uk_5e7e0cc1c5b6cb9dc19ecb95?ncid=other_twitter_cooo9wqtham&utm_campaign=share_twitter [Source]

• 11 Mar 2020: Tweet

  Check out the new @HfdsCouncil Climate and Ecological Emergency web pages for more info on what we are doing, incl our draft Carbon Management Plan. We've cut council carbon by 43% since 2009, & have a plan to get to net zero by 2030 ????https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/climate-2 [Source]

• 30 Jan 2020: Tweet

  Today I participated in my final debate as a UK MEP. In my 7 months as MEP I have worked hard to push for stronger European action on the climate crisis. I will continue my campaign for stronger climate action in the UK. (pic taken yesterday, singing "Auld Lang Syne”) https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1222850850386849793/photo/1 [Source]

• 30 Jan 2020: Tweet

  Final moments in the EP. I made a speech to a packed house on European solidarity, climate change and the importance of listening to the voices of the younger generation. Video to follow shortly. Last vote was on the gender pay gap. Immense amount of solidarity from fellow MEPs. [Source]

• 27 Jan 2020: Tweet

  @PoliticsMids Working in the European Parliament, I’ve seen how the #greenwave of concern over climate has pushed all the parties to talk about this. The European #GreenDeal is a really big push for more renewable energy, away from polluting systems, and it had cross-party support. [Source]

• 21 Jan 2020: Tweet

  How can the reform of international trade rules tackle the climate crisis? ???? Join @anna_cavazzini and I tomorrow for a lively discussion on the #WTO & #climateaction with @nickdearden75 of @GlobalJusticeUK & others https://twitter.com/anna_cavazzini/status/1219591055911411713 [Source]

• 15 Jan 2020: Tweet

  ???????????? The #EUGreenDeal resolution has just been approved! The @EU_Commission proposal for a #EUGreenDeal is a good start,but we @GreensEFA managed to push the @Europarl_EN to call for + biodiversity + climate financing + social approach to tackling the climate crisis ???????????????? https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1217437861584293889/photo/1 [Source]

• 14 Jan 2020: Tweet

  #climatechange : the fires in #Australia offer a foretaste of the human&ecological disasters that result. We can't simply sweep it under the carpet while pursuing a free trade agreement with Australia, a country that is NOT taking its climate responsibilities seriously! ???????????????????????? https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1217021936611536898/video/1 [Source]

• 13 Jan 2020: Tweet

  I’ve just been taking part in the EP’s debate on the fires in Australia and the climate crisis. And now this... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/ocean-temperatures-hit-record-high-as-rate-of-heating-accelerates?CMP=share_btn_tw [Source]

• 11 Dec 2019: Tweet

  Today the European Commission announced its #GreenDeal - proof that voting #Green pushes the #ClimateEmergency up the political agenda, where it belongs! Here's my colleague @alexforeurope keeping up the pressure for *real* change???? https://twitter.com/alexforeurope/status/1204794228464857088 [Source]

• 11 Dec 2019: Tweet

  Tomorrow @GlobalJusticeUK will challenge UK govt to release all secret #tradepapers from talks with 21 countries So far we know ☣Mention of climate change banned ☣Talks of corporate court system ☣NHS, food standards & right to regulate on table What else is our govt hiding? [Source]

• 06 Dec 2019: Tweet

  Great to debate the impact of @ExtinctionR at LSE last night. Activists have pushed #ClimateCrisis and #NatureCrisis up the agenda; political engagement is needed to keep them there. That’s why I put all my energy into @TheGreenParty. ???? #VoteGreen #GE2019 https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1202917011631869953/photo/1 [Source]

• 04 Dec 2019: Tweet

  Last week the EP declared climate emergency. Today we Greens/EFA in the European Parliament present our climate law calling for: ???? Citizens right to a healthy climate ???? EU CO2 budget ???? Stop of fossil fuels subsidies ???? Climate neutrality by 2040 Info????http://bit.ly/ClimateLaw https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1202263697080623105/photo/1 [Source]

• 04 Dec 2019: Tweet

  Emissions are still rising. I know I sound like a stuck record on this topic but it’s because our system is still stuck in overdrive, still going in the wrong direction. We have to change course. Fast. #ClimateEmergency #ClimateActionNow https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50648495 [Source]

• 27 Nov 2019: Tweet

  #WTO reform:we need a fair, rules-based multilateral trading system, compatible with our #climate goals! The #EU is squeezed between #USA and #China,both focused on national interests. The #US is causing a crisis of the WTO Appellate Body. The EU needs to find a solution to it https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1199654906644307975/video/1 [Source]

• 26 Nov 2019: Tweet

  In a @GreensEFA meeting with European Investment Bank. As @EIB says, acting later on the #ClimateEmergency is harder, more expensive, and much more risky than #ClimateActionNow. No time to waste. We need much more investment *now* at all levels in #ZeroCarbon transition. https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1199322197648707584/photo/1 [Source]

• 26 Nov 2019: Tweet

  Totally hypocritical of hedge fund @brexitparty_uk MEP to argue against #ClimateActionNow with crocodile tears about jobs when a) #GreenNewDeal is all about just transition creating jobs for the future, and b) Brexit would be about *four times* more expensive than #ZeroCarbon. [Source]

• 26 Nov 2019: Tweet

  Powerful speech by my Green colleague @BasEickhout in yesterday’s #ClimateEmergency debate. https://twitter.com/GreensEFA/status/1199252466686144512 [Source]

• 26 Nov 2019: Tweet

  Another day, another bleak report. World needs to increase carbon-cutting ambitions *five-fold* to avoid warming >1.5C. Current policies = >3C warming by 2100. 15 of 20 wealthiest nations have no timeline for a net zero target. We need #ClimateActionNow https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50547073 [Source]

• 25 Nov 2019: Tweet

  This week I'm back to #Strasbourg for the #EPPlenary session. Tonight we had a debate on #climate and on Thursday the European Parliament will vote on a motion on the #ClimateEmergency ???? With this motion, we don't need just a piece of paper, but concrete actions ???????? https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1199088468229545986/video/1 [Source]

• 21 Nov 2019: Tweet

  I’ve just taken @friends_earth’s #ClimateActionPledge. If elected, I’ll put the climate first when I vote in parliament. We’re living in a #ClimateEmergency and must make every effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. #ClimateElection https://twitter.com/friends_earth/status/1194987106201952257/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Nov 2019: Tweet

  The political view of the @Conservatives @ecrgroup in the #EuropeanParliament is that #IPCC authors are not scientists and that there is no man-made climate emergency ????‍♀️ You don't need to say anything else???? #ClimateEmergency https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1197161253564821504/video/1 [Source]

• 20 Nov 2019: Tweet

  While ⁦@Conservatives⁩ in the EP hold a climate deniers meeting, ⁦⁦@GreensEFA⁩ are holding a hearing on the EU-Mercosur trade deal. We have serious concerns about it (remember the #AmazonFires?) & we’re totally committed to tackling the very real #ClimateEmergency https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1197157370008350720/photo/1 [Source]

• 20 Nov 2019: Tweet

  I am absolutely astonished that the ⁦⁦@Conservatives⁩ political group in the EP, ⁦@ecrgroup,⁩ is right now holding a hearing entitled “there is no climate emergency”. What planet are they living on?! I’m here to find out what’s going on... #ClimateEmergency https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1197152825760985088/video/1 [Source]

• 19 Nov 2019: Tweet

  Great to be back in Brussels working with my fantastic @GreensEFA colleagues preparing for next week's Strasbourg session. Key item on the agenda: the debate & resolution next week which will set the EP's position for the COP25 climate conference in early Dec. #ClimateEmergency [Source]

• 15 Nov 2019: Tweet

  Flooding in Herefordshire. Scientists have warned of increasing climate chaos for years; now it’s very real. We need real action on the #ClimateEmergency now. https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1195366121706328067/photo/1 [Source]

• 13 Nov 2019: Tweet

  It’s frankly laughable for @BorisJohnson to claim the Tories, or Brexit, will do anything for the environment. Just look at their record. The Conservatives have ditched programmes supporting renewables and insulation, and are now failing on virtually all climate targets. /1 [Source]

• 30 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Housing???? is 1 of 4 areas we are looking at to find solutions to the #ClimateEmergency the others are: ???? Transport ????Energy ???? Food https://twitter.com/MillieKGould/status/1189497338882121730 [Source]

• 30 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Birmingham’s twin city Lyon recently ran a massive public participation exercise on tackling the #ClimateCrisis. Thousands of people contributed ideas, shaping Lyon’s climate plan 2020-30. On Monday I hosted an event to ‘Learn from Lyon’ - now hope Brum can do something similar! https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1189463181049188352/photo/1 [Source]

• 16 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Bank of England boss says global finance is funding 4C temperature rise. @XRebellionUK are absolutely right to draw attention to the City’s role in financing the climate crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/15/bank-of-england-boss-warns-global-finance-it-is-funding-climate-crisis [Source]

• 14 Oct 2019: Tweet

  In a democracy we have a right to peaceful protest Tonight I stood in solidarity with the @ExtinctionR protestors in Trafalgar Square ???? I exercised my right to protest and have been arrested alongside brave climate activists This is a #climateemergency❗️ https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1183853226807959552/video/1 [Source]

• 09 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Big success last night! #NotLeavingQuietly was about giving a voice to young people who are now speaking up against #Brexit and the #ClimateEmergency Incredible energy&words by @BirmCons and @Femi_Sorry and special presence of visitors+climate activists from the #WestMidlands https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1181825042642083841/photo/1 [Source]

• 07 Oct 2019: Tweet

  The @GreensEFA continue to fight to #stopMercosur & make trade work for #peoplenotprofit This interim EU-Mercosur Impact Assessment predicts: ❗️More beef & dairy imports ❗️Increases in CO2 Emissions ❗️Further marginalisation of indigenous people ↪️https://bit.ly/2oWQP9M [Source]

• 05 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Glad to see @SolihullCouncil is finally recognising the urgency of the #ClimateEmergency but "aiming" for a zero carbon council by 2030 just won't cut it. We need binding commitments and dedicated action plans - not more hot air. https://solihullobserver.co.uk/news/solihull-council-conservative-leaders-respond-to-climate-change-criticisms-by-proposing-to-be-net-carbon-zero-by-2030/ [Source]

• 05 Oct 2019: Tweet

  This is @NathanW_04 Nathan thinks being able to live, work and study in 28 different countries is amazing and will help us tackle climate change. Nathan is also #NotLeavingQuietly ???????????????????????? https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1180511580007604224/photo/1 [Source]

• 02 Oct 2019: Tweet

  Young people of the West Midlands! How would you transition our region to ZERO CARBON by 2030? @bhamys4c @WYClimateStrike We are holding a #YouthClimateAssembly ????????on 30th October–to hear priorities and actions on #ClimateChange. https://elliechownsmep.org.uk/wmyca-overview https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1179349392538705926/photo/1 [Source]

• 02 Oct 2019: Tweet

  @kevinandrewsmp Disappointing response: 'we are meeting our Paris #climate targets'. But Aus emissions are v high & targets v weak (only 26-28% by 2030); & Australia is 2nd biggest coal exporter; if you count production of #fossilfuels they are world's 5th-largest emitter https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/fact-checking-scott-morrisons-un-general-assembly-speech/ [Source]

• 02 Oct 2019: Tweet

  My question to @kevinandrewsmp in the EU-Australia trade debate in #EuropeanParliament: can he see Aus joining NZ & others in new ACCTS Agreement on Climate Change and Trade and Sustainability, incl removal of fossil fuel subsidies? [Source]

• 27 Sep 2019: Tweet

  I’ve just been at the @MakeUK_ Regional Advisory Board meeting to listen to West Midlands manufacturers’ views. Most are deeply integrated with #EU economy. #Brexit is immensely damaging to UK manufacturing. We need the sector strong for #GreenNewDeal & #netzero transition [Source]

• 23 Sep 2019: Tweet

  Climate change is accelerating and we need action at local level as well as from the UN. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49773869 [Source]

• 23 Sep 2019: Tweet

  In August I met several of these councils – Birmingham, Worcester, Herefordshire etc are doing good work! Declaring a #ClimateEmergency , investing in public transport + divesting pensions from fossil fuels. A good start to a green, zero-carbon transition. [Source]

• 23 Sep 2019: Tweet

  Last Friday I marched to support the thousands of young people across the UK who are demanding urgent action on climate change. Local councils need to step up and meet that demand: start the zero-carbon transition from ground up! [Source]

• 22 Aug 2019: Tweet

  The public recognise that we face a climate emergency. But too many old-school politicians are still dragging their heels. Warms words aren't enough - we need targets and ACTION. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/climate-change-fears-gripping-britain-poll-reveals-85-are-worried-about-warming-the-highest-figure-a4218251.html [Source]

• 21 Aug 2019: Tweet

  Good to meet #Staffordshire Council Leader @PEBAtkins & Chief Exec today to discuss #ClimateEmergency & #Brexit impact. @StaffordshireCC has recognised #ClimateCrisis - but has no target or action plan, & can’t say if they met earlier climate targets. More urgency needed here! https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1164207753151307779/photo/1 [Source]

• 19 Aug 2019: Tweet

  Great to meet leader and chief exec of @Warwickshire_CC council today; another in my series of summer meetings with council leaders in #WestMids to discuss #Brexit impact and #ClinateCrisis. I urged @CllrSeccombe to commit to net zero target and action plan ASAP! https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1163476512928088064/photo/1 [Source]

• 14 Aug 2019: Tweet

  @BhamCityCouncil @BrumLeader I'm delighted that @BhamCityCouncil has joined over 200 local authorities in declaring a climate emergency. The Council now needs to follow up with rapid action to achieve its targets. Big win-win potential in #GreenNewDeal: warm homes, good jobs & great public transport! [Source]

• 14 Aug 2019: Tweet

  #ClimateCrisis requires urgent action at all levels of govt. That’s why I’ve requested meetings with all major #WestMidlands councils. Today I met @BhamCityCouncil @BrumLeader Ian Ward & urged him to develop #GreenNewDeal for #Birmingham to achieve net zero by 2030. #EllieOnTour https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1161767915038789632/photo/1 [Source]

• 31 Jul 2019: Tweet

  ‘The patterns of warm and cold years in the UK are a clear signal of climate change’ say scientists. The 10 hottest years have all happened in my son’s lifetime. What sort of world are we creating for our kids? ???? ???? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49167797 [Source]

• 29 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Just recorded an interview for @ITVCentral special on #HS2, to be broadcast this Thursday. We need more rail investment, but not HS2: 5x more expensive per km than average high speed rail project, and will create way more CO2 emissions than it saves. Madness. 1/2 https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1155797412067389441/photo/1 [Source]

• 25 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Climate change: Current warming 'unparalleled' in 2,000 years https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49086783 [Source]

• 22 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Great to see so many councils in the West Midlands recognising the climate emergency, including Wolverhampton last week, and Cannock Chase... very much hope Malvern follows suit! https://twitter.com/westmidlandsgp/status/1153201363058352128 [Source]

• 20 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Well done #Rugby Council on declaring climate emergency and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030! The 2nd #Warwickshire council in a month to do so! https://www.rugbyadvertiser.co.uk/news/rugby-council-declares-climate-emergency-aiming-for-carbon-neutrality-by-2030-1-9004525 [Source]

• 11 Jul 2019: Tweet

  On my multitasking train journey home from Brussels ???? I’ve just taken the #flightfree2020 pledge not to take any flights in 2020 to avert climate breakdown. Join me! ????????????????@flightfree2020 https://www.flightfree.co.uk/pledge [Source]

• 05 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions [Source]

• 02 Jul 2019: Tweet

  We have to change course NOW, before it is too late. #ClimateCrisis June was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/june-hottest-month-ever-earth-2019-weather-heatwave-hot-a8984691.html [Source]

• 02 Jul 2019: Tweet

  Good to talk on @bbchw just now about #European democracy. West Mids now has a #Green MEP because a) people want action on the #ClimateCrisis, and b) the EU Parliament has a much more democratic voting system than the U.K. Our U.K. politics is broken, as the Tory pantomime shows. [Source]

• 02 Jul 2019: Tweet

  BBC News - Climate change: Heatwave made 'at least' five times more likely by warming https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48838698 [Source]

• 21 Jun 2019: Tweet

  I was proud to march through #Birmingham this morning with the brave & brilliant @bhamys4c youth climate strikers. Keep up the pressure, everyone! It really does make a difference. #ClimateCrisis https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1142044675773292545/photo/1 [Source]

• 21 Jun 2019: Tweet

  This is indeed a step forward, but the UK citizens’ assembly on the #ClimateEmergency must have teeth if it is not to be seen as simply fobbing off climate activists with a talk shop https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/20/uk-citizens-assembly-on-climate-emergency-announced?CMP=share_btn_tw [Source]

• 18 Jun 2019: Tweet

  Heathrow’s expansion plans make a mockery of the zero emissions strategy | Caroline Lucas https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/18/heathrow-expansion-mockery-zero-emissions?CMP=share_btn_tw [Source]

• 18 Jun 2019: Tweet

  Scientists shocked by Arctic permafrost thawing 70 years sooner than predicted; "the climate is now warmer than at any time in last 5,000 years". How much more evidence do we need? #ClimateEmergency https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/18/arctic-permafrost-canada-science-climate-crisis?CMP=share_btn_tw [Source]

• 07 Jun 2019: Tweet

  Brilliant & inspiring speech by #schoolstrike4climate Patrick: ‘we need to transform our system for social and climate justice’ #ClimateEmergency #GPConf https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1137025541595381762/photo/1 [Source]

• 06 Jun 2019: Tweet

  @HfdsCouncil here’s looking at you... We need all new build infrastructure to be net zero carbon [Source]

• 06 Jun 2019: Tweet

  Happy to join @UKGBC this afternoon to discuss net zero carbon building standards in #Brum and beyond. Great examples of this already being done across the region, UK and beyond. More to do though to build a #circulareconomy; EU part of the solution! https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1136665899224764417/photo/1 [Source]