Blueprint for a new Environment Act - September 2018

The forthcoming new Environment Act is an opportunity to establish a world-leading framework for the environment. Martin Baxter, IEMA Chief Policy Advisor sets out initial thoughts developed as part of the Broadway Initiative, on what needed in legislation to help set a firm and progressive direction for future prosperity.

The Prime Minister has announced that her Government will bring forward the first Environment Bill for 20 years. It offers an opportunity not simply to fix the Brexit governance gap when we leave the EU, but to establish a world-leading framework for the environment. It an exciting opportunity, one that we can afford to miss.

To this end, wee been working as part of the Broadway Initiative to develop ideas and proposals for how to make the ambition for enhancing the environment a reality over the longer term. To this end, wee set out initial proposals on what an Environment Act would need to include. Broadway members include senior representatives of organisations from business, NGOs, professional bodies, and policy thinktanks and nationally recognized environmental, legal, regulatory and governance experts a truly collaborative effort!

As part of our work, wee identified 9 Pillars of Governance that we think need to be addressed in the Environment Act:

1. Objectives, targets, milestones and metrics
2. Principles
3. A process for plans at national level
4. Maps and plans for the place-based environment
5. Clear responsibilities for key actors
6. Aligned incentives
7. Effective enforcement
8. Purpose driven feedback loops
9. Independent oversight

Responsibility as the new default

Successive governments have introduced rules and policies as we have learnt, issue by issue of the environmental, social and economic impact of failing to be responsible for the environment. This has given rise to a situation today whereby we have an unnecessarily prescriptive, compliance driven, reactive (rather than strategic) and complex approach to the environment.

Single use plastics and poor air quality are current examples that show this approach has gaps, is poor at anticipating new issues and has not been capable of reversing environmental decline; some parts of society are pursuing unfair and short term economic gain at the cost to our long-term prosperity.

There is therefore the potential for a paradigm shift towards responsibility for the environment, with two potential elements:

• A duty of care for the environment for all organisations
• Activity specific et gainresponsibilities, including for developers, utilities, producers and others with important influence over natural assets.

Duty of Care for the Environment

A duty of care could be the underpinning foundation for a societal shift towards responsibility towards the environment. In effect, it would put responsibility where businesses and people are best placed to act and resolve problems early and at source, rather than government making rules reactively and at a distance. As confidence grows in this approach, it should replace prescriptive rules where the outcomes are better secured by the new duty. Specific policies would then focus on where environmental improvements require prescriptive approaches or additional carrots or sticks.

Environmental net gain and leaving the environment in a better state

nvironmental net gainis a way for specified activities that strongly influence the state of the environment to be responsible for making positive environmental impacts. This is, in a sense, a microcosm of the national commitment to leave the environment in a better state. The government has already agreed, in the 25 year environment plan, to apply this responsibility to developers. In principle it could apply to others who own, manage or control land or have a material impact on the state of the environment e.g. water and energy companies.

In time applying this responsibility to a wider range of activities could create a self-generating positive force for achieving a better environment in aggregate. The quid pro quo, with the appropriate safeguards in place, is greater autonomy and flexibility to achieve more ambitious outcomes in ways that work better for specific circumstances. In principle, organisations could have the option to adopt a net gain obligation, in return for more flexibility about how that obligation is applied.

Your views

The draft Blueprint is offered in a spirit of collaboration to try and find the best possible environmental solutions for society as a whole, and to stimulate others to identify improvements or better ideas. The aim is to give government the confidence to help set a firm and progressive direction for future prosperity.

During September and October, we are widening the circle of sectors and groups, across the UK, to ask for ideas and feedback to improve our initial recommendations.