MPs are warning the Government that environmental protections must not be weakened during the process of leaving the EU or afterwards.
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the Government to introduce a new Environmental Protection Act during Article 50 negotiations to maintain the UK's strong environmental standards.
The warning comes with the publication of the Committee’s report The Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum.
The inquiry has focussed on terrestrial biodiversity and environmental issues primarily linked to land management and agriculture. The Committee said that these are not the only environmental issues which will be affected by leaving the EU: European policy has directed the UK approach on air and water quality, on waste, on the marine environment and many other areas besides. Future Committee inquiries may examine these areas and the issues to be managed in more detail.
The EAC report suggests that protections for wildlife and habitats could be weaker after the UK leaves the EU if the Government doesn't take action either before, or in the early stages of the Article 50 process.
The MPs looked at the legislative, trade, and financial issues and make recommendations for action to secure the future of the natural environment. They call on the Government to allow full parliamentary scrutiny of its plans for the future of environmental legislation after Brexit.
Launching the report, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP said:
"Changes from Brexit could put our countryside, farming and wildlife at risk. Protections for Britain's wildlife and special places currently guaranteed under European law could end up as 'zombie legislation' even with the Great Repeal Bill.”
“The Government should safeguard protections for Britain's wildlife and special places in a new Environmental Protection Act.”
“UK farming faces significant risks – from a loss of subsidies and tariffs on farm exports to increased competition from countries with weaker food, animal welfare and environmental standards. The Government must not trade away these key protections as we leave the EU. It should also give clarity over any future farm subsidies."
Key issues raised in the report include the possibility of so-called "Zombie Legislation."
The EU provides the UK with key environmental legal protections. Merely copying EU legislation into UK law will not be enough for up to one third of the UK's environmental protections. There is a risk where EU legislation is transposed into UK law but is no longer updated, has no body enforcing it and can be eroded through statutory instruments with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. A new Environmental Protection Act should be passed before Brexit.
To achieve its manifesto commitment to "be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it found it" the Government must set out how it will provide an equivalent or better level of protection after leaving the EU.
The MPs have also expressed concern over the future of the Birds and Habitats directives which protect wild birds, and Britain’s the most important wildlife and plant habitats. The directives will no longer apply in their current form in UK law, even if the UK remains in the Single Market. The report warns that this could have potentially far-reaching negative consequences for the UK's biodiversity.
The Government has said it will introduce a 'Great Repeal Bill' to transpose and retain European Legislation into UK law when we leave the EU. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the Committee that approximately a third of the over 800 pieces of EU environmental legislation will be difficult to transpose into UK law.
The Birds and Habitats directives protect wild birds, and Britain’s the most important wildlife and plant habitats. These directives will no longer apply in their current form in UK law, even if the UK remains in the Single Market. The report warns that this could have potentially far-reaching negative consequences for the UK's biodiversity.
The report flags up concerns expressed by a number of witneses who gave evidence to the Committee regarding waer quality.
In his evidence,Guy Smith of the National Farmers Union highlighted the example of water companies paying farmers to take action to improve water quality.
However, the report says private sector funding may only be suitable for consideration as a supplement to public expenditure, rather than a substitute for it. South West Water separately reported their concern that a reduction in the amount of agri-environment funding available to land owners would significantly reduce the scope and effectiveness of their own investments in this area.
There are also concerns about how private sector support might be distributed, as there are cases where incentives are only provided to land managers carrying out harmful activities and not to those who are already acting in an environmentally friendly way.
Peter Melchett, from the Soil Association, reported that Wessex Water had been incentivising farmers to reduce nitrate pollution in Poole Harbour, and it has been very successful.
They will say, “For a certain amount of money, I will reduce the amount of nitrogen from my farm flowing into the catchment and into the river”. The problem is if I was in that catchment rather than in Norfolk, and I went along and said:“Look, I have not put any nitrogen into your water system for the 18 years since I went organic. How much are you going to pay me?”
I asked Wessex Water this question the other day and they said, “Nothing”. They are paying the polluter, and the non-polluter is not being paid."
Click here to download The Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum