World Environment Day is a hugely significant day in our global calendar. It is crucial that we as parliamentarians continue to support policies which will preserve our environment for future generations. I have seen through my work on the International Development Select Committee how many populations around the world are facing crises of drought, flooding, hunger and loss of habitat due to the effects of climate change.
This government has taken important steps to support our environment, like banning diesel and petrol cars by 2030, setting a legally-binding target of net zero emissions by 2050, and our plan for water which is the first time a government has taken control of the issue of sewage overflows in our rivers and seas.
Many of my current campaigns have environmental aims, like supporting the ban on trophy hunting to protect our planet’s most endangered species from hunters, and my support for ending government subsidies used to transport trees cut down in North America to the UK to be used as biomass.
This year’s theme for World Environment Day is ending plastic pollution. Plastic waste is littering our natural environment, harming wildlife, and polluting our soils, rivers and oceans. It never goes away; it just breaks down into harmful microplastics. Unless we act now, the amount of plastic entering our oceans could triple by 2040. It’s time to stop plastic pollution.
The government has already taken action to stem the tide of plastic by banning microbeads in cosmetic and health products, introducing a plastic packaging tax, and limiting nuisance single-use plastics like cotton buds. But we must not stop there.
The UK also has a role to play on the global stage. Current international commitments only amount to a 7% reduction in the annual discharge of plastic into the ocean by 2040. Using our diplomatic know-how, we can lead in negotiations to secure an ambitious treaty to end global plastic pollution at the United Nations, just like we did for the climate at COP26.
This government is tackling plastic pollution. But there is still more to do. This World Environment Day, I am calling for the UK to go further to use less, reuse more, and recycle the rest - and encourage other countries to do so too.