There has been further coverage in the BBC Online, BBC broadcast and the Guardian regarding concerns raised by the National Trust and other environmental organisations (Wildlife Trusts, RSPB) regarding the government’s growth agenda.
We do not intend to go back on our commitment to the environment. We remain fully committed to our ambitious plans to halt the decline in nature by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050, while delivering growth.
A Government spokesperson said:
Claims we intend to go back on our commitment to the environment are simply not right. We are committed to halting the decline of nature by 2030 and will not undermine our obligations to the environment in pursuit of growth.
A strong environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand. We have legislated through the Environment Act and will continue to improve our regulations and wildlife laws in line with our ambitious vision.
We want every corner of our country to prosper, too. Bureaucratic processes in the planning system do not necessarily protect the environment so, by making sure we have the right regulations for our nation, we can make this happen.
We want to work with stakeholders, including the National Trust, as we work to halt the decline of nature and do better for our domestic environment. We are ramping up our programme of engagement across government as we further seek to ensure a strong environment – which in turn will support a strong economy.
4 comments
Comment by John W. Baxter posted on
For all the years we spent in the EU no one came to tackling the decimation of migratory birds across Europe.......there was lots of talk and good intentions by many organisations.......as the populations of migrating birds declined.
Today we are ,after many years of fruitless effort, reaping the rewards as exhibited in our outbuildings having one pair of swallows this past season when we have had twenty in the past..
We have slept as we sprayed pesticides and projectiles at virtually any thing that moved resulting in the barren landscape we have created as EU members. Let us look forward with hope and learn from our pathetic past ways.
Comment by C Maddison posted on
So why halt solar farms, reducing energy cost, carbon emissions and creating thousands of jobs, whilst supporting food production? Why allow sewage dumping in our rivers and around our coast poisoning our beautiful landscape and reducing tourism in areas of financial need? Amongst numerous other u-turns, it seems commitments to our environment are going the same way. It seems there is a total disconnect between say and do. Would it be possible to see the facts please rather receiving sound bites through DEFRA?
Comment by Michael Rees Hughes posted on
More empty words and worthless promises from a Government emeshed in an economic disaster largely of its own making. Bit by bit our countryside is being stripped of so much natural life that we once took for granted. Plant and animal species are disappearing at an alarming rate and promises from a department (defra) which told the nation that it was ending the cull of badgers when in fact it has stepped up the senseless blunderbuss slaughter will reassure absolutely no-one.
Comment by matt posted on
The problem with putting out such a short statement like this is that it doesn't give any reassurance because it doesn't actually answer everyone's fears about your plans. Where is the commitment that you will continue with the habitats directive, or that you will go ahead with the plans to pay farmers for supporting the environment as you had been planning? When your secretary of state says he wants the department to become an economic growth department instead, people are rightly fearful that it means lots of destruction of the environment. Words are cheap and easy to say. Until we see action and a commitment to keep environmental regulations in place, no one is going to believe you.