It’s a historic day. The first dedicated Environment Act for nearly 30 years has passed. The act is undoubtedly welcome and greatly improved since it was first proposed in draft form in 2018, thanks to a colossal effort involving parliamentarians of all parties, businesses, NGOs and campaigners.
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The environment is dominating the airwaves with numerous policy consultations, announcements and debate. But green ambitions and rhetoric must be anchored in law to propel action when all the noise quietens down or future political leaders waiver.
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Over the weekend, The Daily Telegraph broke the story that the Environment Bill was to be beset by a further delay of unknown length. The paper had received a briefing from Downing Street that the government was reluctant to accept amendments passed last week when the House of Lords debated the bill.
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One of the things that has cheered me in recent years has been the signs that big business has started to take environmental action seriously and show real leadership in addressing the environmental crisis. I like to think that this is not only because environmental destruction has become a material risk to their business model, but also because they are run by people, who like the rest of us, appreciate that we need a habitable planet to live on. This includes being able to swim, as I do, in the English Channel without getting ill.
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The new parliamentary session which starts on 11 May will be a crucial one for the environment. In this ‘super year’ of major international nature and climate summits, parliament will debate and pass the first dedicated Environment Bill for over twenty years.
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The government has launched a recruitment campaign for the inaugural chair of the new independent environment watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). This is without a doubt one of the most exciting jobs around in both the environmental and regulatory worlds and a significant milestone in the journey towards a new domestic environmental governance system. Read more
The prime minister has announced an ‘infrastructure revolution’, as he promises to put jobs and infrastructure at the heart of the government’s economic growth strategy. Drawing comparisons with Roosevelt’s New Deal, the government promises to ‘unite and level up’ the country. Infrastructure projects are to be accelerated, with a National Infrastructure Strategy and wider reforms promised later this year. Read more
The Environment Bill, published at the end of October, has given us a glimpse of what environmental regulation could look like after Brexit. Positioned as a “huge star” of the government’s legislation programme, the bill got off to a promising start. But it, like all other bills in train, will fall due to a general election being called. Its fate now lies in the hands of a new government.
This post is by Daniel Johns, head of public affairs, Anglian Water Services Ltd. It was first posted on Business Green.
We now have both the EFRA and the EAC select committee reports on the draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill. Both find critical weaknesses in the proposed protections for the environment outside of the structures of the European Union. On this issue environmental organisations, parliamentarians and a range of leading business voices are entirely aligned. Read more
A cross-party group of MPs has called for the draft Environment Bill to be strengthened. The Environmental Audit Committee’s report follows its inquiry into the draft Environment Bill published in December. The committee doesn’t pull its punches and demands urgent action to plug gaps in environmental protection. Read more
Inside track 