Calls for tougher green regulation
C onservation groups have denied they were taken in by environment secretary Michael Gove’s green rhetoric after government plans to protect wildlife after Brexit appeared to be weaker than hoped for. The proposed ‘green watchdog’ will be a “a worldleading body to hold government to account for environmental outcomes,” Defra claimed as it launched a consultation paper in mid-May. But both the RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts said it failed to offer the same tough regulatory framework provided by the EU.
In particular, the new body will not have powers – equivalent to those of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – to take legal action against or fine the Government. There are no plans for ‘polluter pays’ or ‘precautionary’ principles to be enshrined in legislation either.
The RSPB’s director of conservation Martin Harper says the gap between words and action is too wide. “We believe Michael Gove has had his work cut out getting his cabinet colleagues to sign up to his agenda,” he says.
Joan Edwards, of The Wildlife Trusts, adds that conservation groups will be campaigning hard for the Government to think again. “Our message to the public is it’s no good just Joan Edwards saying this – the public voted for Brexit, and they have a responsibility to ensure the environment doesn’t suffer as a result.”
JF