香港六合彩中特网

This interview appears in聽the latest edition of the聽香港六合彩中特网 Policy Lab magazine. To find out more about Policy Lab and get the latest news events, sign up for their newsletter聽.听

As we glide through the English countryside - on that most endangered of species, an on-time mainline train - I flick through a whole stack of notes ahead of my meeting with Guy Shrubsole. His book Who Owns England? was an instant bestseller, and The Lost Rainforests of Britain聽was another hit 鈥� winning huge acclaim from across the political spectrum.

With these works and many others, he has become a key thinker in today鈥檚 environmental movement. Shrubsole鈥檚 ability to marry campaigning fire with a captivating love of the natural world has inspired millions. He allows us to rethink what a modern environmental movement might look like.

In preparing to chat with Shrubsole, I also found myself reading Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 last speech to the UN as Prime Minister. Speaking to the assembled leaders and diplomats, she spoke not of the majesty of markets or the evils of communism 鈥� the international battles which had come to define her. Instead, on that mild autumn evening in New York, that doyen of free market capitalism spoke of the delicate beauty of our natural world.

As she did so often, Thatcher invoked the Old Testament to express her profound conservatism. 鈥溾��we are the Lord鈥檚 creatures, the trustees of this planet, charged today with preserving life itself鈥� preserving life with all its mystery and all its wonder鈥�.

The speech sought to alert fellow leaders to the looming threat of climate change and the need for us all to respond. Environmentalism was to be seen as a duty, not just to oneself, but to something bigger鈥攖o the nation and, for Thatcher, God鈥檚 green earth.

I finish the speech just as we pull into the small town in Devon where Shrubsole lives today. Mrs Thatcher would know this place as well as any other part of Tory England. Yet today, as Shrubsole points out, she聽might be surprised by its political shift, rural England is changing, in part driven by the emergence of a new environmentalism.

In the general election this year, a whole host of deep blue seats have switched to Labour and Liberal Democrat, with Greens making headway in a nearby rural seat. To Shrubsole, so much of this is down to a connection to place and the natural world 鈥� a connection that runs deep.

鈥淓nvironmentalism is the sleeping giant of British politics.鈥� Echoing the words of the late Robin Cook, Shrubsole makes a case for an environmentalism that respects and values those who have been ignored for too long鈥攕omething I doubt I would find in early drafts of Thatcher鈥檚 speech.

For Shrubsole, this is a progressive moment, and it must be seized if we鈥檙e to make change with genuine, lasting support.

鈥淭here is a long history of environmentalism within the Labour movement and the left, in being interested in access to nature, and the quality of that environment. Often this is forgotten鈥�. He believes there is an importance in understanding how environmentalism is understood by the many, not the few, if we are to have long-term change, not just on issues such as net-zero but also on how we think about access to land.

鈥淣ature isn鈥檛 just a 鈥榥ice to have鈥� for rich folk or the middle classes. It goes back to that expression 鈥榖read and roses鈥�. Of course, we need to sort out the costof- living crisis, making sure that we鈥檙e bringing down energy prices, and ensuring that people have a fair wage. But there are daily moments that really matter for people in terms of being able to see a sunset or enjoying time out in nature and experiencing the rest of the living world. Those things are fundamental to us all.鈥�

While reading Tom Baldwin鈥檚 recent biography of Sir Keir Starmer, Shrubsole was struck by how the new Prime Minister appeared to share this value. As Baldwin recounts, his dad would take the young Keir and his siblings to the Lake District on holiday every summer, something he recently relived in a poignant election campaign video with former footballer Gary Neville.

鈥淗is family met Alfred Wainwright, and made friends with him,鈥� adds Shrubsole. 鈥淲ainwright is the champion of fellwalking and access to the Lake District and has written all these amazing, illustrated guides. I hope that it has stayed with Starmer and means that he鈥檚 interested in things like nature and access to the outdoors.鈥�

The importance of natural space and place has been shown not only in Shrubsole鈥檚 writing but also in recent 香港六合彩中特网 and More in Common research, where support for environmental policies remains strong.

Despite what social media arguments might suggest, Britain is not divided when it comes to climate change. People鈥檚 belief in, and relative support for, what might be called the net-zero agenda cuts across ages, voting patterns and social groups. And yet, the politics of climate and ecology feels just as scratchy as the rest of British politics 鈥� it is at least presented to us as a culture war ready to blow, a tinder box of misrepresentation and misunderstanding. And hallenges remain for politicians about maintaining support for net-zero in the age of populism.

It鈥檚 a theme we see in a new generation of environmental thinkers. There is now an increasing recognition that a contemporary agenda of change involves building environmental politics and policy that has a connection to place, people, and community, not just to scientific abstractions.

Shrubsole points out ideas in his own neighbourhood which could go some way to seeding and nurturing support for ongoing change: the community hydro dam helping deliver renewables, or the push for a community-led redevelopment of a now unused dairy by the station. These small yet significant local icons have the potential to become beacons of a shared vision and story 鈥� one that is grounded and has respect for the local, while seeking ultimately to tackle the most global of challenges. In the recent uprising of anger on sewage, Shrubsole witnessed how local community engagement has allowed for improved outcomes.

鈥淭he River Wye, for example, is one of the few rivers where there is a clear right of access. And I think it鈥檚 no coincidence that the Wye has become one of the flashpoints over river pollution. Although they don鈥檛 own the river and don鈥檛 have any legal title to it, people feel a sense of belonging to it鈥�. A shared valuing has resulted in a better stewardship of something that can serve the community and the nation.

Shrubsole is also quick to return to the need to see these assets as not simply 鈥榥ice-to-haves鈥�, but 鈥榥creasingly necessary鈥� as we get hotter and hotter summers. 鈥淣ot everyone is going to travel all the way to the coast,鈥� he explains. 鈥淏ut as a way to cool off in a hot climate-changed summer, being able to have a dip in the river is a good thing.鈥�

The chance to cool off on a barmy summer evening is a right we can all get behind.

Which brings us to access and ownership, the key themes of Shrubsole鈥檚 . 鈥淲e have a right to roam over just eight per cent of England, and the countryside here is still littered with Keep Out signs,鈥� Shrubsole tells me. 鈥淵et go to Scotland, and you have a right of responsible access to the vast majority of the Scottish countryside. That鈥檚 thanks to some far-sighted legislation brought in the last time Labour was in power in Scotland, the Land Reform Act 2003. It鈥檚 an amazing feeling crossing the border into Scotland because you instantly get that sense of belonging, even as a visitor 鈥� of being welcome in the countryside. No aggressive Keep Out signs, for one thing! And the more that people feel a sense of belonging, the more that encourages care for nature and your local area.

Shrubsole pauses. 鈥淭hat same Land Reform Act did something else too鈥� 鈥� it gave the public in Scotland a Community Right to Buy. Meaning hundreds of communities have been able to take back control of land in their locality; sometimes for affordable housing, sometimes to create local nature reserves. It鈥檚 had an amazing impact 鈥� over half a million acres of land in Scotland are now owned by communities. And again, it鈥檚 boosted people鈥檚 sense of belonging and concern for nature. The town of Langholm, for example, recently bought up a Duke鈥檚 grouse moor and they鈥檙e turning it into a nature reserve.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see the new Westminster government bringing forward plans for a Community Right to Buy in England now, too. Given that one per cent of the population owns half the land in England, there鈥檚 a real sense in many communities 鈥� rural and urban 鈥� of having no control over your area and the land you depend upon.鈥�

Suddenly, breaking off, Shrubsole points over towards a shallow bend, a small hollow in the riverbank where the sun reflects up, allowing us to see the small bird hovering above. It is a kingfisher, electric blue, skimming over the River Dart.

Shrubsole turns to me. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e so lucky. We don鈥檛 always get to see them.鈥� I lean forward, captured by the moment 鈥� frozen by just how beautiful the unremarkable riverbend is 鈥� the bird 鈥� almost painted against the summer鈥檚 day.

It鈥檚 a reminder of just how much natural beauty we have on our doorstep. A beauty that rests on our actions and sense of service to the natural world.

Enough beauty to melt the heart of an Iron Lady and a toolmaker鈥檚 son 鈥� perhaps even enough to sustain a political movement.

is published on 12 September by HarperCollins.