Last week saw the largest threat to nature in a generation announced by the UK Government. They are proposing new legislation to scrap all retained EU laws, including hundreds of pieces of legislation from workers’ rights to environmental protection. This came in the same week of announcements to restart fracking in England and new oil and gas licenses being issued. They also announced that they are considering scrapping plans to reward farmers for managing land in a nature-friendly way. It’s clear that economic growth at any cost is what the new UK Government is wants, but without nature there is no future, and without addressing the climate crisis, we face unprecedented challenges to our way of life.

There is a saying ‘to never waste a crisis’, but these unstainable proposals are being hidden behind our real concerns today of cost of living and the energy crisis. We recognise that everyone is extremely concerned about rising prices and what feels like an ever-uncertain world. However, no attempt has been made to reduce energy use by providing help to insulate homes by the UK Government. New oil and gas and nuclear will take decades to come online. The gas produced from fracking will be sold onto international markets and will not reduce our bills. So the proposed deregulation won’t ease our cost of living but will threaten important areas for nature by permitting new development and could lead to our rivers becoming more polluted. The UK Government is also considering stopping proposals to reward farmers in England for looking after nature. Is this the world we want our children to inherit? 

This attack is coming from the UK Government in Westminster and not the Welsh Government in Cardiff. This matters as laws for nature and for farming are all made in Cardiff. So, if England deregulates, how will this affect Wales? The honest answer is it’s unclear. The UK was the EU member state, so when Brexit happened, all EU law was kept and transferred to Westminster, but this was also put into Welsh law. Whatever our views on Brexit, many of these laws provide vital environmental protections for our air, rivers, wildlife and food standards. We hope that the law will remain in Wales, but if England deregulates, then there won’t be a level playing field for our businesses or farmers, so we will call on the Welsh Government to stand strong and keep to its promises when it declared a climate and nature crisis.

The initial signs are promising, as in the same week, the Welsh Government passed a new law to reduce single-use plastics and announced a new Agriculture Bill. This sets out how Welsh Government will reward farmers for looking after nature, storing carbon, and helping to hold back flood waters. This recognises the important role nature has to play in helping us adapt to climate change. 

Next week Welsh Government will be announcing new measures to tackle the nature crisis ahead of the international Biodiversity Conference in Montreal called COP15, which is the nature conference as COP26 was the climate conference. This will highlight that it’s in our best interests to protect nature as it underpins our economy, our health and even the air we breathe. Countries, including England and Wales, will commit to effectively managing 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 – the 30 x 30 pledge. We know Welsh Government are committed to this, but will our neighbours be as committed? It’s vital that you write to your MP or tweet them telling them how dangerous this attack on nature is to our and natures future.