Climate and Nature Bill

Reference information for XRUK's Digital Rebellion campaign supporting Zero Hour’s digital campaign in support of the Second Reading of the Climate & Nature Bill.

What is the Climate & Nature (CAN) Bill?

The CAN Bill is a private members’ bill, originally proposed by Caroline Lucas MP. It sets out a comprehensive and joined-up set of policies to address the climate and environmental crises.

Most private members’ bills fail, but the best chance of success is when they are introduced through the ballot process, where MPs who are successful in the ballot can decide which bill to bring, as it guarantees that the bill will be given time to be debated properly in the House of Commons. This is now the case for the CAN Bill as Roz Savage MP has been successful in the ballot and agreed to bring the CAN Bill.

The First Reading is a formality and has already occurred. The crucial next stage is the Second reading on 24th January 2025. A minimum of 102 MPs must attend the reading in-person and vote in support of the bill in order for it to proceed to the next stages. Although over 180 MPs have declared their support for the bill, 24th January is a Friday when many MPs would normally be back in their constituencies, so supporting MPs will need them to make a conscious decision to stay in London for the vote.

There are still many hurdles beyond the Second Reading, but provided that these can be successfully overcome it may be possible for the bill to achieve Royal Assent by Oct/Nov 2025 . The stages involved in this process are explained here.

Why is XRUK supporting Zero Hour’s campaign?

XR has supported Zero Hour’s campaign for the Climate & Nature Bill (originally called the Climate & Ecology Bill) since its inception, and some of the key people in Zero Hour were previously in XR.

A central element of the CAN Bill is a citizens’ assembly, to help decide how the provisions of the Act (once passed into legislation) should be implemented.

Although not the same as the Third Demand, passage of the CAN Bill into law would be a massive step forward, and pave the way for a true citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Irrespective of the citizens’ assembly, the bill offers a route to getting comprehensive, joined-up, science-based legislation in place to address the climate and ecological emergencies.

What are rebels being asked to do?

Zero Hour is asking individuals to contact their MP and ask them to attend the Second Reading in person and vote in favour of the bill.

This can be done at any time from now until the Second Reading, but Zero Hour is making a big push on this aspect of their campaign between 25th November - 1st December so please try to do this during that week if you can. It should only take a few minutes of your time.