Cheshire Wildlife Trust seeks MP support for Greener UK coalition Pledge for the Environment

Cheshire Wildlife Trust seeks MP support for Greener UK coalition Pledge for the Environment

Park c. Nick Upton/2020VISION

Cheshire Wildlife Trust is urging MPs to use Brexit as an opportunity to protect the county’s environmental interests.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust is urging MPs to use Brexit as an opportunity to protect the county’s environmental interests.

The Greener UK coalition[1] [2] of 13 major environmental organisations, including WWF, the National Trust, RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts, has today launched its manifesto calling on the UK government to restore and enhance the environment as part of its plans for leaving the European Union.

The Greener UK manifesto launch follows a House of Lords report last week, which identified the risk of a vacuum in the oversight and enforcement of environment legislation, and the challenge of effectively maintaining the extensive existing environmental protections through the Repeal Bill.[3]

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We’ve been heartened by the government’s commitment to transfer EU environmental law into domestic law, though there remain significant unanswered questions about how the UK will replace the enforcement functions currently carried out by EU bodies. But if we are to allow for nature's recovery, we must set our sights higher. Now is the time to raise ambition, establishing bold nature goals, better management of land and seas, and innovative environmental policy that can underpin the UK’s new place in the world. Being a truly global Britain means building a thriving economy in harmony with solutions to the critical environmental challenges that will define the twenty-first century.”

The coalition has put forward that Brexit offers the chance for the government to make a greener UK a reality including securing the benefits of existing environmental laws and principles through the Repeal Bill and ensuring the UK continues to co-operate with the EU on energy and climate change. It also provides opportunities for the government to pass a new Environment Act with measurable milestones for environmental restoration, pollution and resource efficiency, and to introduce new policies and investment that create thriving farming and fishing industries.

Charlotte Harris, Chief Executive Officer, Cheshire Wildlife Trust is keen that everyone in the region encourages their MP to sign the Pledge. “194 MPs from across the UK’s political parties have so far signed up to the Greener UK coalition’s Pledge for the Environment.[4] It would be great if we could say that all MPs in Cheshire have pledged their support.”

Find out if your MP has signed the Pledge for the Environment

Help is available to write to your MP to encourage them to sign the pledge or equally thank them for their support if they have already signed.

Footnotes:

[1] Greener UK is a coalition of 13 major environmental organisations, with a combined membership of 7.9 million: Campaign for Better Transport, ClientEarth, Campaign to Protect Rural England, E3G, Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Greenpeace, National Trust, RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust and WWF.

[2] The Greener UK website will go live at 00.01am on Wednesday 22nd February: www.greeneruk.org

[3] The House of Lords report, Brexit: environment and climate change, was published on 14 February 2017 and is available here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select...

[4] See the Pledge for the Environment: http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/GreenerUK.php

Greener UK Manifesto