UK 25 Year Environment Plan – A debate
Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/07/2017
9:00 am - 12:15 pm
Location
Coventry
Categories
In this debate on 11 July considers the scope, ambition and content of the 25 year Environment Plan and asks what are the hallmarks of a plan that can really deliver long-term environmental improvement and meet challenges such as air pollution, poor water quality and loss of habitats and wildlife.
Before the 2015 General Election, there was a rare cross-party commitment to a 25 year Environment Plan. The Conservative Manifesto promised a ‘25 Year Plan to restore the UK’s biodiversity’. That election pledge was hard-won, following recommendations by the Natural Capital Committee and campaigning by NGOs.
Two years on from that election a framework for the 25 Year Plan is under consultation and although praised for its ambitions it has been criticised for the lack of legally-binding targets for environmental improvement, which would be underpinned by investment and new accountability mechanisms. The Natural Capital Committee has again entered the debate, calling for the plan to be given a legal basis and its separation from the Government’s 25 year Food and Farming Plan has also been questioned.
Speakers
Martin Spray CBE, Chief Executive, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
Sarah Hardy, Head of Programme Office and Engagement 25 Year Environment Plan at Defra
Professor Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Energy Policy, University of Oxford and Chair of the Natural Capital Committee
Chair
Pamela Castle OBE