The recent passing of the long-delayed and much anticipated Environment Act is
welcomed.
The new legislation will help the current and future UK Governments
make some progress in tackling the climate and nature emergencies. Campaigning
for the legislation took more than 3 years but finally Royal Assent has been received.
The inclusion of a legally-binding 2030 species abundance target
has the potential to boost efforts to reverse the decline in wildlife and will
put the UK on the path towards protecting 30% of land and sea for nature by
2030.
The new requirement for planning applications to provide
Biodiversity Net Gain will encourage developers to put nature at the heart of
their work whilst Local Nature Recovery Strategies will create the framework
for a national system of interconnected sites for nature.
However, regretfully, the
Environment Act does not live up to its promise to be “a world leading piece
of legislation” as claimed by the Government.
Plans for the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) have been
improved by Ministers but the Secretary of State’s ability to provide it with “guidance”, even where cases affect Ministers themselves, drastically
undermines its independence.
In addition, the Government resisted all efforts to put legally
binding interim targets within the Environment Act and the duty for local
authorities to follow Local Nature Recovery Strategies plans is weak.
It is also vital that Government
agencies like Natural England and the Environment Agency are given the
necessary funding to facilitate their role in delivering on the Environment Act
(they have both received substantial cuts in their funding over the last 10
years or so).
The Government must use every power
it has to tackle the inseparable climate and nature emergencies. At COP26 the
UK promoted itself as a global leader on climate action but, despite containing
valuable new commitments, the new Environment Act fails to live up to that
promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.