Norfolk County Council voted against supporting the UK Nature's Rights Bill at its September meeting, rejecting a Green Group motion by 49 votes to 25.

The motion, proposed by Cllr Helena Wysocki and seconded by Cllr Serene Shibli Sexton, argued that nature breakdown is already affecting Norfolk communities through flooding, extreme heat, polluted rivers and biodiversity loss. It called on the council's Leader to write to Norfolk's MPs asking them to support the Bill's progress through Parliament.

The Bill would give nature legal rights and establish a duty of care towards the natural environment, alongside practical enforcement mechanisms including Rights Impact Assessments and bioregional governance bodies.

The Conservatives tabled an amendment seeking to soften the motion's language, replacing support for the Bill with a more general call for "effective and proportionate environmental legislation" that balanced nature protection against housing, farming and economic needs. That amendment was defeated heavily, 56 votes to 15.

With the meeting's three-hour time limit having elapsed before the main vote was taken, councillors agreed to move directly to a division on the substantive motion. It was lost, with 25 in favour, 49 against and 2 abstentions.