Help us make the CEE Bill law!
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What is the CEE Bill?
We know we are in an emergency and that the government isn’t doing enough. The goal of our recent action at Pulteney Bridge was to highlight that the UK is woefully short of meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets, as detailed by the Government’s own Committee on Climate Change report.
The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill can change our course – making the government act with the urgency we need and involving everyday people in a Citizens’ Assembly that has real bite. If the CEE Bill is made law, the government would have to act fast, accounting for our entire carbon footprint while actively conserving nature here and overseas. We hope that this bill will set a precedent that can be replicated across the world.
The CEE Bill is a brand new initiative starting on its path as a grassroots campaign to build an alliance around this proposed law. It has been developed with members of XR alongside members of the successful Big Ask campaign that led to the Climate Change Act in 2008.
We need the support of as many MPs as possible so that the bill can move forward—so politicians need to step up. Call on your MP to back the CEE Bill!
What does the CEE bill call for?
- A serious plan to deal with the UK’s fair share of emissions and to halt critical rises in global temperatures.
- Our entire carbon footprint be taken into account – both in the UK and around the world.
- The active conservation and restoration of nature here and overseas, recognising the damage we cause through the goods we import.
- Those in power not to depend on future technologies to save the day; technologies that are used as an excuse for us to carry on polluting.
- Ordinary people to have a real say on the right way forward in a Citizens’ Assembly with bite.
OK, I'M IN!
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP THE CEE BILL BECOME LAW?
Lobby your MP
A great way to lobby your MP is to arrange to meet them online or in person, so you can ask them face-to-face to support the CEE Bill.
To arrange a meeting with your MP, use these contact details:
You can also write to your MP:
Why not send a tweet in support of the CEE Bill, and at the same time ask your MP to give it their support?
Spread the word
Tell your friends and family, share on social media (use the hashtag #CEEbill), write a letter of support to a newspaper, phone a local radio station or just grab a megaphone and take to the streets!
Join the 2020 rebellion
The CEE Bill is a major focus of the 2020 Rebellion. Join us in Bath (28th – 31st Aug), then Cardiff or London (1st – 6th Sep), to help raise the profile of this campaign. More info here.
Join the cee bill campaign
You can sign up to the CEE Bill campaign here.
key points
Citizens' Assembly, but this time with *bite*
- Critics of the CEE Bill may claim that the UK has recently held a Citizens’ Assembly (CA) – Climate Assembly UK – and there’s no need to hold another one. Don’t leave this unchallenged!
- Climate Assembly UK, whilst recently giving an interim briefing about the post-COVID recovery with some positive findings, has no binding powers. In other words, it has no teeth. It also has the fixed objective of how to meet carbon net zero emissions by 2050.
- In contrast, the CA proposed by the CEE Bill:
- Has the twin objectives of addressing the climate and ecological crises.
- Has “bite” ,meaning that recommendations with significant support within the CA (at least 80% of members) must be incorporated into Government policy.
- Is not constrained by a target date for carbon net zero, ensuring action is based on scientific urgency and not political viability.
- The proposed CA will consider how the UK ensures it does its fair share to avoid going over critical rises in global temperature. In essence, it will be answering these questions:
- What do we need to do to meet our pledge of 1.5°C in the Paris Agreement?
- What changes do we need to make to get us there?
- How quickly must those changes happen?
nature & climate
- The protection and conservation of nature and ecosystems, not just in the UK but around the world, is treated with the importance it deserves.
- There’s a recognition that the ecological emergency is no less urgent than the climate emergency.
fairness
- The CA must take account of international & intergenerational equity, the UK’s historical emissions, and ensure that measures do not disproportionately impact minorities or deprived communities.
- This looks like a significant step in the right direction toward climate and social justice.
no creative accounting
- It’s time to come clean on the real carbon footprint of the UK. That carpet was getting kind of lumpy anyway!
- Aviation, shipping and imports will no longer have a free ride.
no magical thinking
- Reliance on speculative carbon capture future technologies to save the day has been a way of kicking the can down the road, and allowing the emissions of “business as usual” to continue. Not any more.
- Instead there will be an increased focus on the use of natural carbon sinks such as peat bogs, woodlands and soil.
Broad Campaign Team
- This is not “an XR bill”, it has been drafted by an alliance of experts, including some XR supporters.
- Contributions have been made by respected climate, energy and ecology academics, alongside a lead author of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.
Further information
- CEE Bill campaign website.
- XR UK website section about the CEE Bill.
‘We can’t wait until 2050 to reach net zero’: Campaigners call for climate crisis to be enshrined in law (by Sean Russell in The Independent)
