I have recently received a number of emails from my constituents
regarding the Environment Bill, which will set out a legal framework for the
government’s promise to leave the environment in a better state over the next
25 years.
The Government’s 25-Year Plan to Improve the Environment is
available on:
The Prime Minister has made clear on many occasions that we will
not weaken environmental protections when we leave the EU.
This Bill is another key step towards achieving a Green Brexit and
it will help to ensure Britain can be cleaner and greener for future
generations.
Details of the bill’s
contents will be brought forward in due course. I will be supporting this and
other legislations in Parliament which will allow us to be better stewards of
our environment.
We have a great track record on the environment to be proud of.
For example, the Government has already:
·
Planted more
than 11 million trees, including one million trees in our towns and cities.
England’s woodland cover is now expanding at a rate that hasn’t been seen since
the fourteenth century.
·
Cleaned up
10,000 miles of rivers and waterways – more than the length of the Amazon and
the Nile combined.
·
Published the
National Ecosystem Assessment, the Natural Environment White Paper and the
Biodiversity Strategy, setting out the Government’s plans for protecting
ecosystems, wildlife and natural habitats. £7.5 million has been provided to
establish 12 Nature Improvement Areas, providing space for wildlife to thrive,
plus a further 148,000 acres of priority habitats.
·
Committed up to
£720 million to the Green Climate Fund to help developing countries adapt to
climate change and transition to a low carbon economy.
·
Published the
UK’s first Solar Strategy which sets out the ambition to see solar rolled out
more widely across the country. Since 2010, half a million homes have chosen to
install solar technology.
·
Invested in
renewables. Since 2010, the amount of money invested each year in renewable
electricity production has doubled compared with the previous Parliament. As a
result, 2017 was the cleanest and greenest year ever for electricity when we
had the first full day without coal power since the Industrial
Revolution. The rise of renewable energy also helped to break 13 clean
energy records in 2017.
·
Introduced the
5p charge for plastic bags which has drastically reduced the number of plastic
bags distributed. Our 5p plastic bag has seen nine billion fewer carrier bags
being distributed since the charge was introduced. This has led to a reduction
of 83 per cent and £95 million has been donated to environmental, educational,
and other good causes.
·
Legislated to
ban microbeads. A ban on the manufacture and sale of products containing
microbeads came into force earlier this year. We have asked a specialist
committee to review evidence on the use of microplastics in a range of
products, and their chances of reaching the seas, and we are commissioning
further research to better understand the impact of microplastics in the marine
environment. Ministers are also consulting on plans to ban the sale of
plastic straws, drinks stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. This,
alongside the forthcoming consultation on a deposit return scheme for single
use drinks containers, should lessen the potential for material to become
microplastic in the long term.
·
Reduced carbon
emissions by 6 percent since 2010 contributing to a 27 per cent reduction since
1990. Ministers are determined to ensure we become a world leader in the new
green economy.
·
The recent
publication of the Agriculture Bill sets out how farmers and land managers will
in future be paid for "public goods", such as better air and water
quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access
to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding.
Furthermore, the Chancellor announced at the Budget this week that
the government will be introducing a world-leading new tax on produced or
imported plastic packaging. Alongside already planned reforms to the Packaging
Producer Responsibility System, this new measure will encourage businesses to
ensure that far more packaging can be recycled and to use more recycled plastic
in their packaging. Consultation on both reforms will be launched soon.
The decision to leave the European Union has created an historic
opportunity to review our environmental policies. Outside the EU we can develop
global gold standard environmental policies, not just to halt or slow
environmental deterioration, but to raise our ambitions, restoring nature and
reversing decline. We can, and I believe we will, be the first generation to
leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it.
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