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Proceeding contribution from Hilary Benn (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 18 June 2009. It occurred during Ministerial statement on UK Climate Projections.


UK Climate Projections

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The truth is that pressure from below helps Governments to move. We need politics that is a combination of leadership and those pressures. Indeed, the Climate Change Act was the result of two forces at work. One was the Big Ask campaign, which was a movement from below that said, "We should have a climate change Act in the UK," and the other was political leadership from the Government, who said, "Yeah, that's what we're going to do." The Bill was drafted and the Act is now on the statute book. That shows what we can do. Frankly, if we had asked someone 10 years ago what they thought the chances were that we would get a climate change Act, they would have said, "Well, I don't think it'll happen in Britain." However, it did happen, for precisely the reason my hon. Friend described.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
494 c453-4 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Climate change Flood control Droughts Floods Forecasts Weather Temperature Carbon emissions Sea level Rain Greenhouse gas emissions
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk