Thursday, 30 June 2016

What now for the UKs environment post Brexit?

So the UK voted to leave the European Union. I have blogged before about how vital the EU legislation has been in terms of protecting nature and the environment and it is well known that many politicians who campaigned for us to leave the EU are not in favour of these laws, describing them as 'so much red tape'.

The EU is not perfect, nor indeed are its environmental laws, but these laws, as I say have made a difference to the state of our beaches, waterways and nature in general. The outlook for nature in this country could be dire if we discard these laws without enshrining them into UK law.

There are already many articles which explain the potential impact of us leaving the EU on our nature protection, here are some that I feel are particularly informative and concise:

UK's out vote is a 'red alert' for the environment (Guardian newspaper)

What Leaving the EU means for our environment (Scottish Wildlife Trust).

What does Brexit mean for the UK's environment? (Political Studies Association Environmental Politics)

EU departure means a tough fight to protect our environment ( Friends of the Earth Scotland)

Letter from Conservation leaders to Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform in Scottish Parliament

I think this article from Ruth Davis highlights well the need to be positive. When the EU held a consultation on the fitness of purpose of the Nature Directives, millions of people across Europe demonstrated their support, with much of that support coming from people in the UK. The UK nature conservation organisations have huge numbers of members (more members than political parties). We are a country that loves nature and we will not stand at the sidelines and watch as a right wing government dismantles the laws that protect our nature, landscapes and environment. Having said that it won't be easy, we have a battle on our hands and we know from the recent referendum campaign just how sneaky our politicians can be.

Conservation organisations will be campaigning to make sure the best of the EU nature legislation is enshrined in UK law. It's early days yet and I haven't seen any detailed plans, but you can sign up here for the Friends of the Earth campaign. You can also send a message to all the political leaders in Scotland to ask them to put the environment at the heart of their thinking and actions around Scotland’s future (via Friends of the Earth Scotland).The campaign organisation 38 Degrees has now put up a petition to keep the EU nature laws, you can sign it here.

If you've been taking part in 30 Days Wild you have probably found yourself enthused about nature more than ever as a result. If you love nature you will want to make sure we can protect it as much as possible for the future. 

Campaigning for 30 Days Wild.


Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Events may yet show that Scotland at least need not worry about this. Or me. If I apply for a Scottish passport...

sage said...

This is going to be interesting to watch and hopefully the environment won't suffer (any more than it already has).

Naquillity said...

oh, i'm so sorry to here this Crafty. hope the fight for nature wins out. it's always so sad to see how nature gets pushed out. hugs to you.

RG said...

I think now is really an important time to enroll a broader and broader demographic of the community into the groups fighting for protection. Hopefully many of those groups are already tinkering with their messaging and actions to do that. "A healthy community NEEDS a healthy environment."

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Was so sorry about the vote, even before thinking about the environmental impact. Best wishes. (I read an article that your first commenter refers to above. Do you think that could that happen? You might get all kinds of new citizens if it does. ) over here, people are investigating about moving to Canada (not the same thing I know, it's a different country) if the Republican candidate wins the pres. election. people are saying it might happen in the same way that Brexit did in the UK... people just upset with the status quo and not thinking about what they're voting for. Eek!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Rabbits Guy - the membership of UK conservation charities is growing all the time,

Hi Sallie, if Scotland is given reassurances that we could remain part of the EU if we became independent then there would be a very high chance of another Scottish independence referendum and i think the vote would be for independence