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Bristol’s Green MEP has reasserted her demand for an Environmental Protection Act in the wake of a new House of Lords Select Committee report on the impact of Brexit on the environment and tackling climate change [1].
The report says the importance of the role of EU institutions in ensuring effective enforcement of environmental protection and standards ‘cannot be over-stated’ and warns the government that it faces ‘a considerable challenge in maintaining environmental legislation through the Great Repeal Bill [2].’
The report also raises concerns about the watering down of the UK’s international commitments on, for example, climate change. The committee calls on the government to clarify whether and how EU funding for environmental measures will be replaced by domestic funds post-Brexit.
The concerns and recommendations from the House of Lords committee echo the ‘cocktail of risks’ to the environment highlighted by Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, in a report she launched earlier this week [3]. In the report, she calls for a new ‘Environmental Protection Act’ to ensure that environmental protections will not be lost, watered-down, or ignored.
Bristol’s Green MEP, Molly Scott Cato, said:
“It is clear how much British environmentalists rely both on EU law and EU courts to prevent damage to our special places, wildlife, water and beaches. Outside the EU we need to strengthen our domestic protections which is why we need a specific law and a court to enforce it.”
Notes
[2] http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7793