We’ve been covering the government’s 25 year plan for the environment this week with a couple of blogs by NAEE trustees Justin Dillon and Morgan Phillips. Here is a sample of other views out there:
RSPB – Martin Harper – Good news for a Thursday
“If, like me, you believe that politics can change things for the better, then the first environment speech from a Prime Minister in a generation is not immaterial. It is a sign of personal commitment and that matters when there is 24/7 scrutiny of government performance. …”
Butterfly Conservation – Julie Williams – This long-awaited plan
“This long-awaited plan provides a tangible way forward that will enable us to protect nature and strengthen our environmental laws in the future, but for the plan to deliver on its promises, it must be backed up by real action by the Government. …”
WWF-UK – Karen Ellis – We all depend on nature
“The UK Government’s new 25 Year Environment Plan could be a game-changer, reversing long term declines and making the UK an exemplar for the rest of the world to follow. To achieve that, the Plan will need to be underpinned by strong laws and regulations, and a clear action plan for achieving the goals it sets out. …”
Wildlife and Countryside Link – Elaine King – The public is deeply worried about the rapid degradation of our environment
“The 25 Year Plan makes for good reading, but words must be backed up with a decisive and well-resourced road map for delivery that includes clear milestones, evidence-based decision-making and transparent processes for monitoring and reporting on progress. If the UK is to lead the world in protecting the environment and get the environment back on track, it must now enshrine its goals and targets into law. …”
George Monbiot – A Grand Plan to Do Nothing
“It’s as if it were written with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. In terms of rhetoric, the 25 Year Environment Plan is in some respects the best government document I’ve ever read. In terms of policy, it ranges from the pallid to the pathetic. Those who wrote it are aware of the multiple crises we face. But, having laid out the depth and breadth of our predicaments, they propose to do almost nothing about them. …”
WWT – A green signpost at Brexit crossroads
“The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan includes a Parliament’s worth of promises. Together, they amount to a brilliant green signpost toward a greener UK. The Prime Minister’s decision to announce the plan alongside Mr Gove at WWT’s London Wetland Centre suggest this could be a rare moment where the whole Government is charting a more sustainable path. The headline ambition to pass on nature in better condition is laudable and we’re delighted to learn the Government has listened to many of our recommendations for how to achieve it. …”
The Wildlife Trusts – An initial response
“Theresa May’s speech on the environment today shows that, at last, a Government is seeing how much the environment means to the people of the UK, not least young people. Both the speech and the plan contain some very encouraging words and ambitions for land and sea but The Wildlife Trusts believe that the lack of legal underpinning is a fundamental flaw. …”
Steve Martin – Taking the long view
“Overall, I was pleased that Theresa May and Michael Gove have launched a national plan, but it needs to address some fundamental concerns about how our education system, can support the government’s serious and laudable objective of leaving the planet in a better place than it found it. It cannot and must not depend solely on what some have described as “toothless voluntarism”. … it needs a clear and unambiguous policy mandate that builds on the undoubted and deeply serious commitment of teachers and learners to a system-wide process that supports a more sustainable future for all.”