I care deeply about environmental enhancement an protection and have and so I was pleased to receive a letter from the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, setting out more details on the Government’s flagship Environment Bill. Amongst the new measures, this letter set out:
- Powers for the Government to recall vehicles that do not meet legal emissions standards
- Require developers to ensure habitats are enhanced
- Legislate for a new framework for Local Nature Recovery strategies
- Give communities a greater say in protection of local trees
- Legislate for ‘Conservation Covenants’, allowing landowners to set legally binding obligations on their land for themselves and subsequent owners
- Measures to fundamentally change the way government, businesses and individuals produce and consume products
- To make companies more responsible for costs of waste arising from packaging
- Improvements to resource efficiency of products, shifting people towards products that last longer and are more easily recycled
- Legislate for a consistent set of recyclable materials to be collected from households and businesses in England (currently varies from area to area)
- Clearer recycling labelling
- Introduction of bottle deposit schemes
- Powers to get water companies to work together to plan for meeting current and future water demands even during droughts
- Measures to strengthen Ofwat’s powers to licence water companies
- Strengthen protection on aquatic environments against harmful chemicals
As a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, which met today, I will be doing my best to work with ministers to ensure this Bill and other environmental legislation are practical for households and businesses and that they are well thought out and really will deliver tangible benefits.
If you would like to be kept up to date on environmental issues I am working on please email me here.