This feels a bit like another ‘The Big Society’ but this time for the environment. The contrast of this rather airy speech – thin on specifics – with the impact of the failures of air quality (see links below) that the Government are being forced to face up to and the spending review (not mentioned) are stark. The impacts of the spending review on spending on flooding will also be problematic when the next big flood comes.

Open Environment  

The headings for this speech were as follows – Her early life experience – self sufficiency – Open Environment – the new big idea – Being Better – Better use of voluntary organisations and citizen science – Better use of data and technology – Tools and framework – support for the Natural Capital Committee and valuation – Future Actions. It doesn’t take too much to read between the lines – No mention of the Spending Review.

Liz Truss   ‘I think what we have the opportunity to do here today and over the next year is to move forward and to build a new approach for the decades ahead that will continue to improve our environment. As the Chinese proverb says, “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago – the next-best time is today”. So over the next 12 months, with your help, we’ll be developing this approach that will focus on continuous improvement. And for me, this plan is not something that we are simply going to write, publish and put away in a cupboard. Like the environment, it will be a living thing—because we will always be learning. I want us to move away from the jumble of contradictory targets and controls towards harnessing the British passion for nature and giving people the tools to achieve improvements themselves. We are calling this approach Open Environment ….’

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/open-environment-speech-by-elizabeth-truss