The NEU is bitterly disappointed that that the Government curtailed debate on this vital Bill, which would have made the UK’s climate and environmental targets legally binding. The Bill failed to clear its first hurdle in the House of Commons and is now unlikely to become law.
Along with many other organisations and trade unions concerned about lack of action on climate change, the NEU signed a letter to the Prime Minister, encouraging support for the Bill and pointing out that the climate and nature crisis is already impacting on lives and livelihoods, with heat stress, violent storms, flooding and poor air quality, affecting health and wellbeing as well as learning and working conditions for students and staff.
The conclusions of the Government’s own December 2024 research report into climate literacy among school leavers in England are sobering and only serve to underline the crucial nature of the Bill. The findings show that young people, who stand to lose the most, living on a degraded planet, are not receiving the necessary teaching and learning about the scale, scope and likely development of climate breakdown because whole school learning on climate isn’t embedded into all areas of the curriculum.
This was an opportunity to rise to the greatest challenge we face but instead the can has been kicked down the road. We will continue to argue for real commitments to meet legally binding targets on climate change and protection of nature.