Environment Bill – Seizing the Opportunity - February 2020

Broadway Initiative publishes 5 targeted amendments to turn a good Bill into one that’s world-leading

The Environment Bill could be a major enabler of improved quality of life and prosperity as we leave the EU, setting the policy framework for doing good business in a way that makes our towns, cities and countryside cleaner, greener and more productive.

IEMA, working collaboratively across business sectors through the Broadway Initiative to support a coherent long term framework for the environment alongside the Climate Change Act, has identified a small number of targeted changes that would significantly increase the ability of businesses and local communities to make systemic improvements in our environment.

Commenting on the publication of “The Environment Bill – Seizing the Opportunity” IEMA’s Chief Policy Advisor said:

“The business community has a critical role to play in meeting our shared commitments to reduce carbon emissions to 'net zero' and to leave our environment in a better state. The targeted amendments to the Environment Bill would give businesses the right policy framework to invest for the long-term and make significant contributions to improving the natural environment and tacking the climate crisis”.

The five areas targeted for improvement are:

1. Objectives to bind the Bill’s policy and governance processes into a commonly understood direction, giving the economy a consistent long-term view about how to align investment and activities
2. Transparent criteria and processes for setting targets and interim targets, so that everyone is assured that targets are practical and feels the ownership needed to align their activities with them
3. Enduring obligations on successive governments to ensure policies enable targets to be met, so everyone has sufficient confidence to act and make long term investments
4. Provision to enable consistent local environmental planning and prioritisation towards the targets, so that the economy has a shared view of how to plan, invest and collaborate to improve the environment locally
5. Provision, subject to consultation, of a simplified planning mechanism for organisations to factor the environment into their activities, so business and others have a consistent, intuitive and proportionate way to manage the environment.

About the Broadway Initiative

IEMA has been working as part of The Broadway Initiative to bring together a cross section of the main stakeholders and nationally recognised experts to generate ideas and proposals for world leading arrangements to govern the environment after EU exit. The purpose is to advise governments on how to enable all parts of society to play their part in achieving long term objectives for the environment.