‘Brexit risks laws on environment’
Green MP wants legislative safeguards
The UK’s environmental protections are exposed to a “cocktail of threats” and are at risk of being downgraded as a result of Brexit, according to Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas.
THE UK’S environmental protections are exposed to a “cocktail of threats” and are at risk of being downgraded as a result of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, according to Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas.
More than 1,100 EU laws designed to safeguard the environment, ranging from air pollution limits to energy efficiency and wildlife protection, need to be transposed into UK law but the MP fears a lack of statutory oversight will weaken them.
Ms Lucas has also voiced concerns that reiterated warnings from the farming lobby that in the desperation for a trade deal with the United States, the UK’s domestic markets could be exposed to lower standards such as chickens washed in chlorine and beef treated with hormones.
Crucially, she said, current environmental laws could prove to be unenforceable because the UK has no system to oversee compliance, which is currently done by European bodies, while the country would also be leaving key EU agencies which support and develop green policies.
Ms Lucas, a member of the Environmental Audit Committee and MP for Brighton, also highlighted how there was a threat to environmental funding as EU cash to support nature protection schemes and wildlife-friendly farming ends, while the UK could quit the emissions trading scheme which aims to drive down carbon pollution.
She said: “Though we’ve hardly heard it mentioned by the Government, it’s clear that British environmental policy faces a cocktail of threats from Brexit.
“Just days after the Brexit vote in the Commons we can clearly see the huge risks of downgrading environmental protections as part of the post-referendum process.
“Key laws could become unenforceable, spending on crucial schemes could be cut and new trade deals could undermine existing regulations.”
She also warned of a much greater probability of changes to UK environment laws outside the EU, more exposure to political cycles and a danger that investors in clean technology will be wary of potentially higher risks.
In a new report, Ms Lucas called for a “green guarantee” to ensure the environment is protected, including a new Environmental Protection Act to re-establish protections that could be lost or rendered meaningless in the transfer of regulations into UK law.
She said: “We need a Green Guarantee that will deliver on Government’s commitment to ensuring that ‘we become the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it’.
“We need to immediately begin work on introducing an Environment Act to ensure that Britain crucial rules and enforcement don’t drop off as Britain exits the EU.”
Her comments follow a similar warning from Wakefield MP Mary Creagh, who last month said EU laws that guarantee protection to Britain’s wildlife could end up as “zombie legislation”.
Mrs Creagh made the remarks as chairman of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee as the watchdog called for new UK laws to be introduced to avoid the nation’s environmental standards being eroded by Brexit.
In response, a Government spokesman said it was committed to safeguarding and improving wildlife and environmental protections as Britain leaves the EU.
British environmental policy faces a cocktail of threats. Caroline Lucas MP, co-leader of The Green Party