On Wednesday 10th July, Gillian Keegan MP spoke in a General Debate on climate change in the House of Commons. The MP gave a passionate contribution about her will to ensure the UK leads the world by example in its efforts to reduce our carbon dioxide output. The MP leant on her career in the car industry when she called upon legislators to be cautious about passing laws without thorough scrutiny; referencing the EU directive that previously encouraged its citizens to purchase diesel cars. Something that is now known to be just as damaging to the environment and far more so to human health.
The member spoke about the importance of working collaboratively across government and business to pool investment, ideas and innovation. Gillian called for more to be done saying, ‘we will need to invest in technological development, incentive schemes, and green infrastructure.’ However, the Chichester MP like many others in the chamber said to do so we need a strong economy. She said, ‘I believe we must be cautious about policies and ideas that negatively impact on growth.’
Gillian highlighted some of the Governments achievements in this area to date when she said, ‘Since 2010, we have deployed 99% of the UK’s solar panels. We are now home to the world’s largest offshore wind capacity. In total, we have quadrupled our renewable output. It is not surprising that last year we produced over 37% of our energy from renewables, all while growing our economy.’
The MP also spoke of her pride in Chichester District Council whose Cabinet voted to declare a ‘climate emergency’ and praised the speed at which they were already implementing plans.
The MP also referenced a meeting she had with members of Extinction Rebellion in Parliament, where she spent over an hour listening and debating their ideas. More recently a member of Gillian’s team met a group of climate activists in Westminster as part of the ‘Time Is Now’ demonstration. Gillian is holding a meeting on climate change specifically with both groups in Chichester to continue their discussion on the best course of action locally and nationally.
The MP concluded her speech by calling on Britain to lead the world:
‘We must not be complacent: we must do more locally, nationally, internationally and individually to grow a truly global green economy. Looking at the big picture, Britain has always been a world leader, and we must continue to build on our target-led, technology-driven approach. We were the innovators of the steam power that drove global industrial development, and we now owe it to the world to lead the renewable green revolution.’
