A smell of burning in the air? Government sets a match to Green Policies

By Ian Hepburn

Head of Conservation

It’s a bit early to be thinking about autumn leaves, roasting chestnuts and bonfires. But officials and ministers in the new Government seem to be acting with some haste to get rid of a raft of legal and policy measures designed to safeguard nature and protect our environment.

A recent analysis by leading UK environmental organisations has exposed the shocking record of the current Government in less than three months since the General Election. The chief executives of these organisations, including The Wildlife Trusts, have written jointly to David Cameron to warn of the environmental consequences of scrapping important policies without replacing their objectives by other measures.

The list of disappearing green policies is extremely disturbing and demonstrates and extremely worrying trend. Details are in the media release and the letter. The policy changes detected are summarised below (more details are in the NGO news briefing).

Some of these policies have been formed over years; some are relatively new. There are no signs of replacement policies designed to reduce energy consumption, enhance efficiency and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The notion of support to promote green energy seems to have been wiped from the agenda. These policy changes are short-sighted and will affect us all.

The Coalition Government pledged in January this year to safeguard protected landscapes and key wildlife sites from shale gas exploration. But earlier this month the Government tried to slip in a change to the policy without formal debate in Parliament. This was spotted by environmental NGOs and has now been delayed until the autumn. So there is some hope that the Government might be persuaded to change its mind on this.

Watch this space for updates and to find out how you can help.