State of Climate and Nature

Debate between Mary Creagh and Sojan Joseph

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

The climate security taskforce is part of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s remit, so I can ask my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to talk to my hon. Friend about that. The report that he mentions says that analysis shows there is “high confidence” that

“ecosystem degradation is occurring across all regions. Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse.”

It goes on:

“Global ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity…Without major intervention…this is highly likely to continue to 2050 and beyond.”

So what is already in the public domain makes for sobering reading, and I commend the full document, which is in the public domain, to all hon. Members.

[Sojan Joseph (Ashford) (Lab)]

This morning, I visited the Churchill school in Hawkinge and had a good interaction with the young children. Most of their questions were about protecting nature, and they repeatedly asked how we can support them to plant more trees. Children care about our environment, so how can we encourage members of the public, and especially Members of the Opposition, to talk about nature and net zero in the same way as those children?

[Mary Creagh]

Given the intense heatwaves that we have experienced this year and in previous years, it is vital that children in Ashford have the protection of shade from trees. Academy trusts should be making funds available for adaptation, to mitigate impacts in their schools, and to keep their schools open. We do not want children at home, not learning, and schools overheating to absolutely impossible temperatures. I commend those students, and I encourage them in their efforts.