A new Environmental Principles and Governance Bill is intended to ensure that environmental protections will not be weakened as we leave the EU, the government has confirmed.
A consultation, see section below, has started on the contents of the Environmental Principles and Governance Bill, which will establish a world-leading body to hold the Government to account for environmental outcomes.
The body is intended to support the Government’s commitment to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it. It is intended to provide scrutiny and advice on protecting and enhancing our precious landscapes, wildlife and natural assets and hold Government to account on environmental legislation.
Separately the House of Lords has passed an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill that commits the Government to give EU environmental principles a statutory basis in domestic law. This has been lobbied for by organisations such as CIfA. CIfA intend to make clear that, whether or not the amendment remains on the Bill after the Commons votes on them, the proposed Environmental Principles and Governance Bill should include appropriate reference to these vital principles