Bob Earll: Well to say that the Government’s consultation hasn’t gone down well with past environmental parliamentarians would be an understatement. A toothless mutt with no legal powers to hold Government to account has prompted Peers to another amendment to the Withdrawal Bill. The environmental principles section is a bit …. thin …. It seems like a deliberate attempt to ignore a host of commitments not least to many international conventions that we will still be signed up to after Brexit. Plenty of scope for comment!

BusinessGreen’s commentary blames the Treasury.

GreenerUK has lots to say on this subject too

Defra: ‘When we leave the EU, we will be able to build on the successes achieved through our membership, and address the failures, to become a world-leading protector of the natural world. We have also published the 25 Year Environment Plan, which sets out this Government’s ambition for this to be the first generation that leaves the environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it. These good intentions must be underpinned by a strengthened governance framework  that supports our environmental protection measures and creates new mechanisms to incentivise environmental improvement.  We have launched this consultation on the development of an Environmental Principles and Governance Bill. This new piece of legislation will mark the creation of a new, world-leading, statutory and independent environmental watchdog to hold government to account on our environmental ambitions and obligations once we have left the EU. This new body will work alongside a new policy statement setting out the environmental principles that will guide successful and sustainable policy-making, marking the beginning of a new era for our environment.’  Click here to download the consultation

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