Jill Bruce on building a greener and more sustainable future

It was an event organised by the Climate Coalition.

This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to meet our MPs on Zoom instead and more than 13,000 people joined in.

Every MP in the country was asked to participate and more than 260 obliged, including Will Quince (Colchester), Sir Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Vicky Ford (Chelmsford), Alex Burghart (Brentwood) and Sir David Amess (Southend).

We asked them all to:

• Build economic resilience by applying a net-zero test to all spending and taxation measures.
• Launch a nationwide programme to insulate our homes.
• Increase investment in better provision for walking and cycling.
• Ensure any Covid-19 company bail outs align to our net zero commitment.
• Set world-leading targets for nature’s restoration.
• Put sustainability at the heart of future trade policy.
• Reduce the global impact of UK consumption by requiring companies by law to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains.
• End all UK public finance for fossil fuels, here and overseas.

Both Sir Bernard Jenkin and Will Quince listened and responded positively and Mr Quince has already booked a follow up Zoom meeting.

We hope Sir Bernard will meet us again soon with news on how ministers, including the Prime Minister and Chancellor, are responding to our concerns.

The Chancellor is showing great vision in many of his plans to get our economy going again, but there isn’t nearly enough on ensuring we are rebuilding a greener economy as so many of us want to see happen.

Before he embarks on a huge building programme, building regulations must be improved to the level Germany and Scandinavia have enjoyed for decades.

He is still allowing developers to throw up draughty, unhealthy houses that cost the earth to heat.

We need the Government to say now that from 2022 all buildings must be built to zero carbon standards, giving the industry time to upskill its workforce.

If we continue as we are, there is no hope of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

There are already far too many homes in desperate need of retrofitting and it beggars belief that more will be built that immediately need expensive retrofitting, when they could have been built more cheaply to a better standard in the first place.

The £5,000 grants for improved insulation that are coming in September are great, but they do reinforce the fact that it is more difficult and expensive to put homes right after they are built than to build them properly in the first place.

Eat out to help out, Rishi Sunak says, and if you choose a meal that’s good for you and the planet, it’s a great idea.

We are also being asked to buy more to support the economy and, again, that’s a good idea if you are still thinking about what is really the best way to help us all get back on our feet again.

Buying clothes made in sweatshops that have used huge amounts of natural resources to make something cheap that doesn’t last, and only gets worn a few times before it’s dumped, won’t help anyone.

I’ve found an app called Good On You that tells you which brands sell clothes from sustainable sources and which to avoid.

It’s helpful, but we still need better labelling to help us buy clothes that are not destroying our world.

I haven’t found a brand I know with five stars yet.

If you would like to know how your favourite brands measure up on sustainability, download the Good On You app and have a look.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor can do much, if they wish, to ensure our economic recovery from Covid is green, sustainable and will bring our emissions to net zero by 2050.

However, they can only do it with our support. It’s in our power to make the right choices now on how we spend our money and live our lives.

The Time is Now to build a greener and more sustainable future for us all.