Conservationists have reiterated that Brexit represents a chance to create long-term plans for business and the environment that would provide security for both, but only if the government gets it right

Speakers from WWF, Green Alliance and RSPB, who were called before a House of Lords Committee this week, have said the government’s 25 year plans for agriculture and the environment - which were delayed in light of the Brexit vote but are now said to be set for release in the coming months - would be a good place to start with improving the UK’s environment.

Speaking before the government’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) on Tuesday, Defra Secretary Andrea Leadsom said that “As far as possible” the UK would be bringing EU environmental legislation into UK law as part of the much-hyped Great Repeal Bill. She admitted that between a quarter and a third of EU environment legislation won’t be easy to enshrine in UK law, and MPs on the Committee suggested the Repeal Bill could dilute the UK’s environmental credentials.

The Defra minister would not comment on specific areas of EU legislation that will become UK law, and she was criticised for Defra’s apparent lack of a long-term strategy to improve air quality.

Leadsom wouldn’t comment either on the future of agricultural support (she famously campaigned for an end to farm subsidies in a past life). This has been an area in which civil society groups have said Defra has the potential to realise environmental improvements and better value for the public purse. Though she said she would like to see a focus on “environmental goods” under a new subsidy regime, she added that Defra “Would like to see more innovation, more food production, more promotion of the Great British brand.”

On Tuesday, the environment secretary said the Repeal Bill and the government’s forthcoming 25-year plans will provide “Certainty” for businesses and environment groups alike. However, experts giving evidence before a Committee from the House of Lords the following day appeared to differ in their assessment of the situation.

government’s 25 year plans are ‘Madness’

Speaking before the Lords Committee on Energy and Environment, WWF director of advocacy Trevor Hutchings said the UK has an opportunity to become a “World-leader” in environment legislation, if Brexit is handled well. Hutchings gave the example of the government’s much vaunted 25 year plans, publication of which was postponed indefinitely in the wake of the Brexit vote, but which Andrea Leadsom told the EAC will be released before long.

Even so, WWF’s Hutchings said ambitious policy, with a positive end point to work towards, could be laid out in these plans. He said, "These should be the vehicles to offer that certainty to those who are regulated and those who need that certainty.”

On Tuesday, Environmental Audit Committee members called Defra’s decision to develop separate plans for the environment and farming “Madness”, though the Defra Secretary insisted this was “Absolutely the right” approach. Speaking before the Lords’ Sub-Committee on Wednesday, RSPB’s Abi Bunker agreed that Defra’s decision to release separate strategies covering the environment on one hand and farming on the other is “ecologically not very sensible.”

The RSPB head of policy and advocacy said the charity has already approached the UK government about this. Bunker said, “It is in the very interaction between agricultural production and the environment where problems arise. In keeping those [spheres] separate you lose the opportunity to tackle those negative interactions and build on the positives.”

Commenting on the future of farm support, Bunker said the UK has been a leader in agri-environment, but that this needs to continue as new legislation is developed, or EU law is transferred into UK law, and added, “[RSPB] would be very concerned if the UK were to develop a replacement for the CAP which didn’t have at its heart the use of public money to restore, maintain and protect the environment.”

Brexit a chance to remove gold-plating?

Bunker said EU directives like the Birds and Habitats directive have been shown to have a positive effect on the environment, and noted that government research has found almost no evidence of ‘gold-plating’ of legislation within the UK. In an earlier evidence gathering session on Wednesday, law experts warned that these packages could be under threat because they aren’t directly transferable into British law, even if the government’s Great Repeal Bill goes ahead

Leah Davis, acting director of the Green Alliance, agreed with the RSPB spokesperson and even Lords on the Committee who had taken part in efforts to identify and cut ‘red tape’ which was holding back business when the Coalition government came to power admitted that they had difficulty finding such legislation.

The biennial Living Planet Report released this week showed that two thirds of all vertebrates on earth are in decline, and the latest State of Nature Report released in September showed that over half of all species resident in Britain are declining, with agriculture identified as the main driver of negative change. These worrying findings suggest that, if anything, environmental regulation needs to be more stringent, to protect diverse habitats and limit ongoing climate change.  

All panelists agreed that regardless of the diplomatic fallout from Brexit, cross-border measures are needed to ensure environmental legislation has any positive effect, as Abi Bunker noted, “Nature doesn’t respect political boundaries.”