There's a bill coming through parliament that threatens to undo 50 years of environmental protections. Larissa and Andrew talk about what it's doing, and what we can do to protect the environment for us all.

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Audio only version:

If you prefer to read rather than watch, the transcription is here: 

Andrew: Larissa, there is some...the new government has introduced a new piece of legislation, which is a bit of a surprise to all of us. I know it’s made you very angry, why? 

Larissa: Yes, I am angry Andrew. Yeah, it's a horrible bill with a not very engaging title: The Retained EU Law 2022 bill.  But essentially under that inauspicious title, it threatens to remove most of the environmental protections that have been put in place over the last 50 years, which amounts to about 500 pieces of legislation I believe which could equate to a situation where you can pretty much put whatever you want in the air, water, soil... and build, have very few planning restrictions and be able to build on whatever land you please. If you sort of took it to the extreme. And it seems to be being rushed through with very little public knowledge, engagement and there's simply no mandate for it. People want a clean and healthy environment, so it seems completely undemocratic and unfair to be putting through a bill which is counter to public opinion. There is no mandate for it. 

Andrew: And it's... I looked at the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2019 election, as you do. And you kind of raised the alarm about this last week. And what's interesting is that there's a very clear commitment to environmental regulation in the in the Conservative Party manifesto. So obviously last year they did the environment bill, which is actually a very good piece of legislation. But there is... they say very clearly that they remain committed to, and strengthening in the  post-Brexit era, strengthening environmental regulations. So this is a shock and it's a major departure from the mandate that they had from the election. 

Larissa: And it seems really sneaky and I just don't think people in the in the party understand that. I don't think those in... well, many professionals don't  understand this is happening or what this bill stands for, let alone the public and the people who put this government there, if anyone did, yes. 

Andrew: Yeah. No. We need to let people know about it so that they can sort of raise concerns and let elected officials know. And they do want a clean and healthy environment and that this bill puts all lives at risk. And how do you go about doing that? Because I know that, you know, the important thing to say is that actually the sector, if you want to call it that, the group of organisations that were campaigning on the environment have been... are up and running pretty quick on this aren’t they? And they've got quite a lot that’s going already. So, I mean, what do I do about it? Before we go on to talk... because I think it's part of a wider
trend that we need to look at but before we talk about that... 

Larissa: Well, that is the one sort of redeeming feature of this. It's been very unifying to come together as a movement and see the large charities that are mobilizing quickly. So I think RSPB and Wildlife Trusts and National Trust have launched a campaign so that people can very easily write to their MP about it
and write to local councillors about it. But is just really talking to each other and especially targeting Tory MPs who are going to be asked to vote through the bill. So just to say that we do not want this bill to go through as it is and we do want our environment to be protected as well as a whole bunch of other laws as well, which is wrapped up in there which you’ll know more about than me. 

Andrew: But I mean, as you say, I mean, aside from promising almost the exact opposite at the last election, as you say, you know, protecting the environment is  a, is a popular thing, people want to see the environment protected. I mean, you know, you only to need to see what's been happening with rivers over the summer period. And, you know, with the pollution of rivers from the sewers, which is really shocking. And to see that we need more, not less environmental protection. You know, clean air is an aspiration of the government's, but the targets are not tight enough, let alone their not being any. So so getting up and  running on that is really important. And we’ll share on the Global Action Plan website, I have no doubt the opportunities to to take part in some of those actions that some of the organisations that we align with are... have got up and running and are publishing in light of this. 

I think 2400...more than 2400 bits of regulation and legislation in total. So quite a lot of the environmental front, around 500 as you say and also social legislation, protection for people at work, health and safety, all all on the chopping block. I mean it's really quite astonishing. 

Larissa: Yeah. Which presumably threatens to further undermine the economy given that environment isn't a nice to have, it’s what our whole economy is predicated on... you need natural resources. 

Andrew: And I think, you know, I mean, I've been following a lot of the economist commentary around the mini budget and the, you know, the emerging policy of a government that’s really only a couple of weeks old. And, you know, this suggestion is that the direction in which they're moving is actually against where a lot of the evidence is, as if you want your economy to prosper, actually, you know, and firms to come and invest... What you need is is a high skill, high regulation, progressive future facing the economy, not not, you know, a kind of well, before, I think we joined the European Union many years ago and started taking on board that legislation, we were known as the dirty man, dirty person of Europe. And that's where were heading again isn’t it?