Five very real risks to our environment from Brexit and how to tackle them
There has been little mention of the environment in the government’s Brexit priorities so far, so it may come as a surprise to hear that an estimated four fifths of all our environmental protections are covered by EU law. As the Westminster government heads towards triggering Article 50 this week, to be closely followed by the repeal bill which will transpose EU law into domestic law, what are the risks to our environmental protections?
On 7 December, MPs voted to support the government’s plan to start formal Brexit talks by the end of March next year. As the UK edges closer to leaving the European Union, the government now faces a critical choice on the future of our environment protections. 
Yesterday’s US election result signals an end to the steady progression of US climate action. What it leaves is a vacancy for leadership on this major challenge of our time. And the UK is in a strong position to be at the vanguard of the effort to fill it. 
Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative Party conference last weekend put the UK’s environmental future into a holding pattern. Her announcement that through a ‘great repeal bill’ all current EU law and regulations would be transposed into UK law, means that, like an airplane, the UK can circle for a little longer above the complexity of its changing relationship with the EU.