PARIS: Leaving the EU could cause "untold damage" to Britain's ecosystems and undermine its makes an attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions, green teams warned Friday, calling at the executive to prioritise the surroundings after Brexit.
With 80 p.c of Britain's current environmental guidelines - governing the whole lot from air air pollution to waste disposal - coming from Brussels, there are fears that ministers are ignoring the ecological fallout of exiting the bloc.
"If we have a no-deal Brexit, the government is going to be busy with other things," said Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), an environmental assume tank.
"In terms of policy development, there's an awful lot of catching up to do, frankly."
The executive says it's committed to upholding the perfect environmental standards when Britain leaves the EU, without or with a deal.
In a speech closing 12 months, Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain "will continue to lead the world in delivering on our commitments to the planet". She promised that EU green guidelines can be adopted into nationwide regulation after Brexit.
But environmentalists say there's little regulation within the pipeline to make sure Britain toes the road when it comes to emissions, conservation and air quality - and virtually no legal recourse if it does not.
"It's instructive that a large number of the cases that end up before the European Court of Justice are environmental," Amy Mount, who heads the Greener UK Unit on the Green Alliance, instructed AFP.
"Right now, people in the UK benefit from access to a strong, independent body which has real powers to make governments across the EU enforce their own laws rather than ignoring them."
Britain used to be taken to the ECJ closing 12 months after time and again breaching EU-set limits on air air pollution.
After Brexit, the government is making plans its personal domestic watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
It says the OEP "will ensure that this and every future government benefits from the expertise vested in a consistent, long-term, independent body on the environment" and "offer a strong system of accountability".
But green teams and legal experts have expressed concern over its power and impartiality. Current plans outlined in coverage papers state the OEP could have its management and investment set via the government.
"That doesn't sound like the strong body we were promised to keep up our environmental defences," said Kierra Box from Friends of the Earth.
"It's still far from certain we'll have even this weak model in place by exit day, which could lead to untold damage to natural spaces and species in the meantime."
Last month the government issued power and emissions recommendation to companies within the match of a no-deal Brexit. It said Britain's emissions would cease to be covered via the EU's current cap system.
It said there were "no current plans to introduce additional domestic policy to cover emissions" within the brief term, and that airways would not be matter to any nationwide emissions tax.
Black instructed AFP that failing to account for emissions from aviation -- currently responsible for kind of two p.c of all greenhouse gas emissions -- "does seem to be a hole".
"It's a really big problem because all the projections show aviation growing as a share of the UK's emissions well into the future and if Britain is actually going to set a net zero target for carbon emissions, then everything you emit you've got to absorb," he said.
Britain has made solid progress on emissions cuts, with 2017 levels 43 p.c less than in 1990.
But the fear with Brexit is that key ministries equivalent to transport, housing and the treasury is also tempted to seek the momentary financial gain of environmental deregulation -- and face few obstacles against doing so.
A no-deal Brexit, for instance, would see Britain lose get entry to to the EU database of safe chemical compounds, be exposed via sea air pollution protections, and free of the specter of ECJ rebuke over air air pollution.
As one of the crucial EU's greatest waste exporters, a no-deal could see garbage pile up, hurriedly buried or burned in incinerators -- all with concomitant environmental prices.
Brexit proponents say that leaving the EU will allow Britain extra freedom to set its personal regulations after many years of taking directions from Brussels.
But in line with Box, Britain's monitor file of environmental foot-dragging within the EU provides no assurance it's going to prioritise green initiatives when it leaves.
"We could have chosen to set lower limits on acceptable levels of air pollution. We didn't," she said.
"We could have chosen to ban bee-harming pesticides earlier, and we still could choose to ban fracking. We didn't and we haven't."
With 80 p.c of Britain's current environmental guidelines - governing the whole lot from air air pollution to waste disposal - coming from Brussels, there are fears that ministers are ignoring the ecological fallout of exiting the bloc.
"If we have a no-deal Brexit, the government is going to be busy with other things," said Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), an environmental assume tank.
"In terms of policy development, there's an awful lot of catching up to do, frankly."
The executive says it's committed to upholding the perfect environmental standards when Britain leaves the EU, without or with a deal.
In a speech closing 12 months, Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain "will continue to lead the world in delivering on our commitments to the planet". She promised that EU green guidelines can be adopted into nationwide regulation after Brexit.
But environmentalists say there's little regulation within the pipeline to make sure Britain toes the road when it comes to emissions, conservation and air quality - and virtually no legal recourse if it does not.
"It's instructive that a large number of the cases that end up before the European Court of Justice are environmental," Amy Mount, who heads the Greener UK Unit on the Green Alliance, instructed AFP.
"Right now, people in the UK benefit from access to a strong, independent body which has real powers to make governments across the EU enforce their own laws rather than ignoring them."
Britain used to be taken to the ECJ closing 12 months after time and again breaching EU-set limits on air air pollution.
After Brexit, the government is making plans its personal domestic watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
It says the OEP "will ensure that this and every future government benefits from the expertise vested in a consistent, long-term, independent body on the environment" and "offer a strong system of accountability".
But green teams and legal experts have expressed concern over its power and impartiality. Current plans outlined in coverage papers state the OEP could have its management and investment set via the government.
"That doesn't sound like the strong body we were promised to keep up our environmental defences," said Kierra Box from Friends of the Earth.
"It's still far from certain we'll have even this weak model in place by exit day, which could lead to untold damage to natural spaces and species in the meantime."
Last month the government issued power and emissions recommendation to companies within the match of a no-deal Brexit. It said Britain's emissions would cease to be covered via the EU's current cap system.
It said there were "no current plans to introduce additional domestic policy to cover emissions" within the brief term, and that airways would not be matter to any nationwide emissions tax.
Black instructed AFP that failing to account for emissions from aviation -- currently responsible for kind of two p.c of all greenhouse gas emissions -- "does seem to be a hole".
"It's a really big problem because all the projections show aviation growing as a share of the UK's emissions well into the future and if Britain is actually going to set a net zero target for carbon emissions, then everything you emit you've got to absorb," he said.
Britain has made solid progress on emissions cuts, with 2017 levels 43 p.c less than in 1990.
But the fear with Brexit is that key ministries equivalent to transport, housing and the treasury is also tempted to seek the momentary financial gain of environmental deregulation -- and face few obstacles against doing so.
A no-deal Brexit, for instance, would see Britain lose get entry to to the EU database of safe chemical compounds, be exposed via sea air pollution protections, and free of the specter of ECJ rebuke over air air pollution.
As one of the crucial EU's greatest waste exporters, a no-deal could see garbage pile up, hurriedly buried or burned in incinerators -- all with concomitant environmental prices.
Brexit proponents say that leaving the EU will allow Britain extra freedom to set its personal regulations after many years of taking directions from Brussels.
But in line with Box, Britain's monitor file of environmental foot-dragging within the EU provides no assurance it's going to prioritise green initiatives when it leaves.
"We could have chosen to set lower limits on acceptable levels of air pollution. We didn't," she said.
"We could have chosen to ban bee-harming pesticides earlier, and we still could choose to ban fracking. We didn't and we haven't."
Green groups sound environment alarm over Brexit
![Green groups sound environment alarm over Brexit]()
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March 08, 2019
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