The Environment Act 2021 (c. 30) of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

aims to improve

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

and

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

, protect wildlife, increase

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

and reduce

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are cate ...

. The act is part of a new legal framework for

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

, given the UK no longer comes under EU law post-

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

said the act represented a reduction in protections, rather than an increase. In January 2021 the bill was "severely delayed" for a third time.

Details of the bill

The bill included powers to prevent the export of

to developing countries, binding targets on

and

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

. The bill also contained provision for a new Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) watchdog and would create a framework for legally binding targets, such as to reduce

particulate pollution Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

. It will give people a greater say in the management of local street trees and enshrine in law the idea of

biodiversity offsetting Biodiversity offsetting is a system used predominantly by planning authorities and developers to fully compensate for biodiversity impacts associated with economic development, through the planning process. In some circumstances, biodiversity ...

. The bill also included new rules intended to stop the import of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

and other key commodities to the UK from areas of illegally deforested land. Most of the bill applies to England and Wales only. Some parts, such as waste management, apply to Northern Ireland only. Provisions on waste including producer responsibility, resource efficiency and exporting waste apply to the whole of the UK. Aspects regarding the environmental

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...

of motor vehicles and the

regulation of chemicals The regulation of chemicals is the legislative intent of a variety of national laws or international initiatives such as agreements, strategies or Treaty, conventions. These international initiatives define the policy of further regulations to be im ...

also apply to the whole of the UK. This bill as well as the updated agriculture bill and fisheries bill will form a new legal framework for

s post-

. Such obligations have for the previous forty years been defined largely by the EU. The UK would be able to diverge in future from new requirements in EU regulations.

Criticism

Of the bill as it stood in January 2021,

said it represented a reduction in protections, rather than an increase; that the proposed environment watchdog will lack teeth and instead needs full independence and enforcement powers; and called for the inclusion of legally binding targets on plastic pollution, and tougher restrictions on single-use plastics. "Campaigners and many businesses want to see legally binding short-term targets introduced", rather than only long-term targets;

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

want a legally binding target date of 2023 by when UK supply chains will be deforestation free; the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

want a January 2021 government "proposal to protect 30% of the UK's land for nature by 2030" enshrined in law in the bill. On the proposal to ban plastic exports to developing countries, the

Green Alliance Green Alliance may refer to: *Green Alliance (think tank), a British think tank *Green Alliance (Colombia), a political party *Green Alliance (Ireland), former name of the Green Party in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland *Green Alliance ( ...

said the UK already has that power, and an obligation to use it under the

Basel Convention The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations ...

, an international treaty to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to

less developed countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreemen ...

Legislative history

The Environment Bill was announced in July 2018 and abandoned during the parliamentary wrangles over Brexit. It received its

first reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

on 30 January 2020, its

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

on 26 February, and reached

committee stage An act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ire ...

on 10 March. In January 2021 it was "severely delayed" for a third time.

References

{{reflist

External links

Policy paper: Environment Bill 2020: Documents related to the 2020 Environment Bill. The Bill will bring into UK law environmental protections and recovery.
at the Parliament of the United Kingdom 2020 in British law 2021 in British law 2020 in the environment 2021 in the environment Conservation in the United Kingdom Open environmental policy proposals Environmental legislation in the United Kingdom

Details of the bill

Criticism

Legislative history

See also

References

External links