Andrew Scheer, Peter McKay, Erin O’Toole, Derek Sloan and a other Conservative MPs

27 July 2020

Dear MPs

Re: Climate Change Action: A Great Conservative Example

Did you know that, in the United Kingdom, Conservatives have been prominent in calling for strong measures on climate action, including a climate change accountability act?

The U.K.’s Climate Change Act of 2008 was adopted 463 votes to 3. It was first called for by an NGO, Friends of the Earth, then introduced as a private member’s bill. The Conservatives took it up, prompted by an MP and former minister ,Oliver Letwin, who had worked in Margaret Thatcher’s policy unit.

Margaret Thatcher herself—no slouch on conservative values!—saw the importance of climate action. She was quoted in a speech at third reading of the bill:

This Bill has attracted an unusual spirit of cross-party co-operation in both Houses. That is appropriate, because to succeed the Bill must lay foundations hat endure from one Parliament to the other and indeed, eventually, from one generation to another. By 2050, we will all be gone from this House—some sooner than others—but those who come after us will remember our names because it is this generation that will be judged on what we did in response to the challenge of climate change. That point was well made by Margaret Thatcher. Speaking of our duty to nature, she said :“That duty is constant…It will weigh on our shoulders for as long as we wish to dwell on a living and thriving planet, and hand it on to our children and theirs.”

Now in 2020, we can see that the results of the Climate Change Act: two five-year reporting periods have passed and emission reductions have met the goals. In 2019, under a Conservative government, the act was strengthened to make net zero emissions by 2050 the goal.

The U.K. boasts that, since 2008, it has reduced its carbon emissions by 30%, during which time the economy grew by 10/%. Growth in its green economy is four times higher than in the economy overall. Decarbonization has enabled the U.K. to be globally competitive.

Now in Canada in 2020, six major environmental organizations are calling for a similar law here We urge you to look at the proposal with the far-sighted vision of your Conservative colleagues in the U.K.

Yours sincerely

Phyllis Creighton, Rose Dyson, Joyce Hall, Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg, Peter Shepherd, Ronny Yaron

On behalf of JustEarth

Andrew Scheer, Peter McKay, Erin O’Toole, Derek Sloan and a other Conservative MPs – 27 July 2020