Amendment 48 of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill) would have required that, before making changes to environmental or food legislation, the Government undertake consultations with a range of external bodies. The amendment also required the Government to produce a report summarising how this advice had been considered. This amendment is not needed to maintain our environmental protections and it would create significant additional bureaucracy and delay, and therefore the Government did not support it.
To that end, I want to be clear that the REUL Bill will not weaken environmental standards. Under the Environment Act 2021, the Government has set legally binding targets, including a target to halt the decline of nature by 2030. This is a flagship target that will not be undermined by the REUL Bill and any action taken by Defra or other Government departments.
Added to this, the Government have made a number of other commitments to environmental protections, including enshrining stringent targets to reduce storm overflows into law, whilst also setting air and water quality targets into law also. In January, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its Environmental Improvement Plan setting out how it would deliver on these targets and duties. The Government has also supported action on the global stage, including at COP15, where the Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed. This includes 23 global targets, including to protect 30 per cent of global land and ocean by 2030.
As such, I want to be clear that the Government is committed to upholding environmental standards and will not use the REUL Bill to undermine this endeavour. Upholding and improving environmental standards is something I have also consistently voted for in Parliament and it is something that I care deeply about, I also know it is a core concern of many that I represent in West Berkshire which is why it forms an important part of my work.
You can find out more about my work on this matter on my website, here: https://www.laurafarris.org.uk/campaigns/nurturing-our-environment
(June 2023)
