Environment must be put first to drive the ‘green revolution’
Outlines possible pitfalls in the Government’s road map for nature
LAST week, I highlighted the role that the green economy could play in giving people and nature a brighter future, I also noted that the Government’s expected ten-point plan for the environment was a little overdue.
It was then a pleasant surprise to learn on Wednesday as I joined a Midlands Engine discussion about an environment strategy for the Midlands, that the Government’s plan had been published earlier that day.
The plan is framed as an opportunity to build back better, speed up progress towards a net zero carbon economy and support green jobs. The vision of a cleaner, greener and more beautiful nation and of us heating our homes with clean fuels, travelling in electric cars and having access to well-paid jobs in the green technology sector sounds attractive.
There also appears to be funding and investment on offer, but to truly grasp the opportunities presented by green growth, the level of funding must be adequate and the Government must ensure that key policies align.
The plan, which outlines action in areas such as energy, buildings, transport and the natural environment, is to be broadly welcomed, but if policies set out to protect nature are not properly framed and the systems in place to enforce them not properly resourced, there is a real danger that the lauded “Green Industrial Revolution” could fail to put nature into recovery and limit people’s vital access to wildlife-rich greenspaces.
I hope the fact that “Protecting our natural environment” comes in at number nine on the ten-point plan is not indicative of where it ranks as a priority. Whilst expanding offshore wind power, boosting low carbon technologies, bringing forward the shift to zero emission vehicles and boosting green public transport are essential, without a robust planning system and strong environmental legislation nature could continue to be squeezed out as we strive to limit the impacts of climate change and “green” the economy.
It may seem churlish to be sound caution just as the Government delivers its promised green road map, but weaknesses in the Environment
Bill currently progressing through Parliament and worrying changes to planning system – put forward in a Government White Paper just as this green vision was being shaped – suggest that we should not simply take this plan at face value.
Government must also ensure that funding for nature matches that for other aspects of the plan. Over the summer the Government announced its Green Recovery Challenge Fund, designed to kick-start environmental renewal and create green jobs. This was backed by an initial £40 million but the value of applications outstripped the funding by almost ten to one.
Whilst this week’s announcement of a further tranche of £40 million is welcome, it is estimated that across the sector we need £1bn of year-onyear investment in nature if we are to have a hope of rebuilding our natural infrastructure.
Establishing robust Nature Recovery Networks, as the Government has committed to, will require the creation of 500,000 hectares of new wildlife habitat. The ten new landscape recovery projects, covering less than 30,000 hectares of habitat, included in the ten-point plan, should therefore only be seen as a start.
For too long the environment has played second fiddle to the economy and our quality of life has been degraded as a result.
Now, as we seek to embrace a truly greener future, the Government must ensure that the natural environment is at the heart of policy making and investment decisions – otherwise the Green Industrial Revolution could put a break on nature’s recovery instead of driving it forward.