Global Warming

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, on securing and introducing this debate, and I congratulate everybody who has taken part.

The noble Baroness, Lady Jones, regretted the small number of Back-Bench speakers here today, but I have to say that that has given us a little bit more time. With a debate such as this, the trouble is that this Chamber is an echo chamber: we all know what we are talking about and what we want to see happen. We have to get that message out there—not just to the public but to No. 10. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, mentioned the potential conflict between DESNZ and Defra. The people who can sort this out are in No. 10, which has to provide leadership on these issues. If there were anything we could do to give Defra more power to its elbow, I am sure we would all agree on that.

The trouble with being the last Back-Bencher to speak is that it has all been said. I was also struck by what the noble Lord, Lord Curry, said, and it is true; there are some conflicts. I should register my interest as a member of various conservation organisations. I would normally be seen, and hope to be seen, as someone who is on the side of nature, but the noble Lord is absolutely right about the number of badgers. I can attest to that in my own garden, where the hedgehogs have disappeared and, suddenly, a camera trap has produced badgers. I am delighted that they are there, in suburban Middlesex, but I lament the loss of the hedgehogs.

I have been interested in birds, and been a member of the RSPB, for more than 60 years. I have seen things change. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I have actually seen a species—although not in Britain—which is now recognised as extinct: the slender-billed curlew. I am sure there are a few other species I have seen during those years which will become extinct before I do. However, I am pleased to say that some breeding has gone on, so there may be some Randalls still around in generations to come.

As has been mentioned, climate change has affected mountain birds, which are going higher and higher. Snow-buntings and dotterel are running out of mountains because there is nothing left. It is not the right climate any more. This is an urgent and important issue.

My noble friend Lord Gascoigne mentioned the very good maiden speech yesterday by the noble Baroness, Lady Batters, who was president of the NFU for a long time. What struck me in what she said was how farmers can help. We must not have this conflict—it is not that farmers are bad for nature and conservationists do not like farmers. The most important thing is that we all work together.

My noble friend Lord Caithness mentioned the peatlands. This is another issue on which have to find a common theme. There are too many people taking a polarised view of these things.

Another issue, which has been hinted at, is wetlands, which present a fantastic opportunity. Some have been restored and new ones have been created. The Wild Fowl & Wetlands Trust has created wetlands on the Steart estuary, and it has just announced that it is trying to create them on the Awre peninsula, which juts out into the River Severn, by the Forest of Dean. These are places where we can restore wetlands, with all their benefits.

There will be a problem with the planning. As president of the Colne Valley Regional Park, on the edge of London, I am very concerned about this. Our green belt is being attacked by all sorts of things. No one seems to worry about whether the land in question is on a flood plain. This is not about housing; it is about databanks and so forth.

These are real issues. I would like the Government to think about creating wetland cities, as we had garden cities. We could re-wet some areas; the Fens would be quite a good area for that. The RSPB has the Lakenheath reserve, where it has recreated wetlands over some not particularly good agricultural soil—the original Fens. Perhaps we could create new towns there where people would actually want to live. The Minister could also talk to the MoD, which has a huge amount of land that it could do things with.

Let us not be too pessimistic, but, if we are not careful, we will have reason to be pessimistic because it will happen and happen badly. But we still have just about enough time.