The Greenest Government Ever?

When it came to power the incoming coalition government made the pledge that it wanted to be the “greenest government ever”. So, twelve months later, how is it doing?

The early signs were good. The coalition had its own ideas, and also seemed to be prepared to make good use of changes that were already underway. The South Downs National Park was designated under Labour, but the new coalition has overseen (rather than undermined) its progress to full function. The Lawton Review and the National Ecosystem Assessment (see my blogs around http://tonywhitbread.blogspot.com/2010/08/natural-environment-white-paper-1.html) were started under labour but have been continued under the coalition and as a result a new Natural Environment White Paper will soon be published.

However, if we look at some of the broader background then there are real concerns that the government is getting off track in its environmental performance.

One of its earliest acts was to disband the Sustainable Development Commission, the mix-up over the Forestry Commission is now well-known and we have sever concerns about the direction planning is taking. In a sop to the development industry, government is now taking the approach of “whatever the question the answer is yes”, setting the scene to allow more environmentally damaging development and (perhaps more significantly) creating a situation where environment and planning become more antagonistic. We now also have the “red tape challenge” in which, despite assurances to the contrary, protection of the environment is listed alongside all other regulation as up for grabs.

The coalition government seemed to start with a desire for a green economy – one where the economy and the environment work together in complementary ways rather than being seen as opposites to balance against each other. The idea of “green growth” was discussed – environmentally benign or beneficial businesses being the ones that drive future economic growth. What’s more, through the work of the National Ecosystem Assessment, we were going to appreciate the economic value of the services provided by nature.

One year later, however, it all seems to have got too difficult and we’re back to an approach that would not look out of place in the middle of the 20th century. The economy comes first and the environment is just seen as a cost or a “burden”. We’re back to ignoring the economic value of nature, and care for the environment is increasingly being portrayed as an act of charity rather than an act of both responsibility and economic necessity. We are seeing the combating of climate change portrayed as a cost to society (rather than a benefit) – something that has to be compromised until the economy is back on track. The more complex reality is being ignored in order to fall back on artificially simple solutions.

This is the background to an open letter sent to David Cameron on 14th May – the coalition’s first anniversary. Chief Executives from 15 leading charities, including the Wildlife Trusts, wrote to the Prime Minister warning that he will have to ramp up his efforts to make this the “greenest government ever” (http://www.sussexwt.org.uk/conservation/conservation/page00028.htm).

At present the prognosis is not good but David Cameron and Nick Clegg can act now to get back on track. The forthcoming Natural Environment White Paper presents an opportunity. With other areas environmentally flagging, this must provide an ambitious vision for the future to be signed up to by all government departments and followed by a clear plan of action for delivery. I am looking forward to its publication in June!

Message to MPs on the Natural Environment White Paper

Last year DEFRA led a public consultation on a new Natural Environment White Paper and at the time I wrote several blogs on its background. (See my blog posts around September 2010 on http://tonywhitbread.blogspot.com/)

There were a record number of responses to this (around 15,000) giving an overwhelming message to government that people value their natural environment.

Since then DEFRA have been preparing this White Paper and it is now due to be published in June. Several of our Sussex MPs have been active in defending the environment in the past and we now call on them all to exert pressure to secure a bold and ambitious White Paper. This should build on the existing protection system and drive nature’s recovery.

I have therefore written to all our MPs asking them to support the White Paper in parliament.

The Wildlife Trusts initiated the call for a White Paper as we believe England needs a new
Nature Act to create the impetus for significant restoration of habitats and ecological processes on a landscape scale. The White Paper should lay the foundations for the establishment of Ecological Restoration Zones and new Local Nature Partnerships to help drive this process. The key functions of these Partnerships would be to:

• Identify zones for ecological restoration. These should enhance existing landscapes restore the processes that drive ecosystem health and should restore and create new areas of habitat. They should also conserve and enhance nationally and locally important wildlife sites as well as take action for priority species;






• Integrate land management policies, incentives and decision-making locally to ensure the provision of key ecosystem services, such as clean water, food, flood protection and control of our climate on which we all depend;






• Work with local authorities to identify ecological networks as part of the Local Plan;






• Inspire individuals and communities to get involved and take action to improve the quality of their local environment.

We believe that dynamic, credible Local Nature Partnerships, supported by civil society, have an important contribution to make to drive nature’s recovery. The Government should champion their role, as they have done for Local Enterprise Partnerships, indeed Local Nature Partnerships should be considered at least as important as Local Enterprise Partnerships.

We’ll see what our MPs say in response to this letter and maybe I’ll reproduce some of the more significant statements in a later blog.