DURING the UK’s hosting of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the Environment Act became law and just a few weeks ago, it received Royal Assent (when the Queen formally agrees to make the bill into an Act of Parliament).
Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment and MP for Taunton Deane, Rebecca Pow, said this was a ‘turning point’ and an ‘example for the rest of the world to follow’.
“Through the Act, we will clean up the country’s air, restore natural habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce waste, and make better use of our resources,” said Ms Pow.
“Crucially, it will halt the decline in species by 2030, helping to reverse declines of iconic British species like the hedgehog, red squirrel, and water vole. It will also require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature and tackle illegal deforestation overseas.
“It will enable us to transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, make household recycling easier and we will have the tools to stop the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.
“These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection which will hold government and public bodies to account on their environmental obligations.
“We have hit the ground running, and a huge amount of work has been underway to put the measures in the Act into practice. We have already banned the sale of plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds, increased the plastic bag charge to 10p and extended it to all retailers and launched a consultation on banning single use plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups.
“We have also launched a call for evidence on other problematic single use plastics – including wet wipes, which is something I am particularly passionate about.
“The bulk of these contain tiny plastic particles which end up in the marine environment when wet wipes are flushed away and this needs to change.
"In addition we have just launched a consultation on the implementation of our due diligence requirements relating to the supply of key commodities including palm oil and soya which will help tackle illegal deforestation across the globe.
“And we will soon respond to consultations on consistent recycling collections, the deposit return scheme for drinks containers and extended producer responsibility for packaging (which puts the onus on the manufacturer placing it on the market ).
“All these measures will transform the way we deal with our rubbish. We have also published a draft Principles Policy Statement which will put protecting the environment at the heart of future policy.
“I am particularly pleased that the Act will crack down on water companies that discharge sewage into rivers, waterways, and coastlines. We are the very first government to set out, via Government’s Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat, the water regulator, our expectation that water companies must act to reduce the harm caused by storm sewage overflows.
“This has also been put onto a legislative footing and, believe me, where they don’t act we will be taking action against them.”
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