Commenting on today’s Queen’s Speech, IEMA Director of Policy and External Affairs Martin Baxter said:

“Whilst IEMA welcomes the confirmation that the Environment Bill will continue its course, it is ‘third time lucky’ for this Bill and essential that it receives Royal Assent as soon as possible. The natural environment cannot wait a moment longer and we need the new environmental governance process in place to ensure we protect and enhance our natural capital and ecosystems.

There is much work to do to establish long-term environmental targets, integrate environmental principles into whole-of-government policy making and ensure that the new ‘green watchdog’, the Office for Environmental Protection, sets off on the right footing. IEMA is working with government in each of these areas and will continue to do so to tackle the significant environmental challenges we face.

2021 is a landmark year for the environment and climate change, with COP26 taking place in Glasgow in November. We need to put sustainability at the heart of the Covid-19 recovery. Skills for a sustainable economy and the transition to a net-zero future require investment in learning. Up-skilling the UK workforce so that everyone can play their part and benefit from the opportunities of the green industrial revolution – in this context, the commitment to bring forward a new Bill to provide a lifetime learning guarantee is welcomed.

The announcement that a new Planning Bill will be introduced to speed up development consent must be consistent with delivering the long-term environmental targets and improvements set through the Environment Bill. High-quality impact assessment that integrates social and environmental considerations is critical to ensuring development is sustainable.”

Photo of Martin Baxter IEMA Corporate Headshot 2
Martin Baxter FIEMA, CEnv

Deputy CEO, IEMA, IEMA

Martin Baxter is Deputy CEO at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). He works in the UK and internationally to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future and support people in the development of sustainability skills and green careers.

Martin has national and international experience in developing and negotiating global and European environmental management standards and developing capacity for effective and widespread implementation. Martin heads the UK delegation to the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) on environmental management and chairs the ISO environmental management systems committee of ~100 countries. He is also vice-chair of the European Standards CEN/CENELEC Strategic Advisory Body on the Environment.

Martin is a Board member of IEMA, the Society for the Environment (SocEnv) and the Broadway Initiative.

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