European lawmakers have express regrets over the UK’s decision to weaken environmental rules since leaving the EU.
This comes after the Guardian revealed it is falling behind in almost every policy area.
One Green group MEP was quoted as saying that the findings were “tragic” while a centre-right MEP said the divergences were “particularly bad” for companies that want to do business on both sides of the Channel.
Grace O’Sullivan, who is an Irish MEP with the Green group, said the backsliding was not surprising given the number of promises the UK government had broken since former environment secretary Michael Gove committed to a “green” Brexit. “While we are no angels in the EU for environmental protection, we have made significant steps in the last few years updating and improving our legislation.”
An analysis found that since Brexit, the UK has weakened its environment rules in key policy areas, from chemicals to climate. Among other measures, the EU has done more than the UK to ban harmful pesticides and substances, tax carbon emissions on imported goods, regulate batteries, and clean the air.
The two economies are expected to grow further apart in environmental ambition as the EU brings in new rules on industrial emissions, outdoor air quality, critical raw materials, water treatment, and electrical waste recycling.
Read also: EU bans ‘misleading’ environmental claims that rely on offsetting
O’Sullivan highlighted the UK’s worsening water quality standards as a “particularly troubling” example of divergence. “In Ireland, where previous governments have failed to prioritise the environment, EU legislation like this was instrumental in obliging the government to act to protect its own people from poor water treatment practices.”
She added: “Both British and Irish people will bear the brunt of the UK government’s poor environmental record, as the recent collapse in water quality in Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh demonstrated.”
Another divergence in policy is an EU effort to help those less able to pay the costs of the energy transition. The EU has legislated for a social climate fund to finance concrete measures that alleviate energy and transport poverty, as the remaining 27 member states move toward net zero emissions by 2050. So far, no comparable fund exists in the UK.
Peter Liese, who is a German MEP and environment spokesperson for the centre-right European People’s party (EPP) group, said: “A big problem, in my view, is that the UK has not [got] something like a social climate fund. While we need to be ambitious in climate policy, we need to help those that are not able to pay for the transition themselves in a targeted way.”
He added: “I very much regret the divergence in environmental rules between the EU and UK.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
