In response to the Environment Secretary George Eustice’s Speech – Nature to be at centre of green recovery – the RSPB’s CEO, Beccy Speight said:
“The pandemic, caused by a zoonotic disease, has caused the biggest shock to our way of life since the second world war. Yet the government has to date failed to articulate how things need to radically change to help address this crisis and the urgent climate and ecological emergency. We need the Prime Minister and his cabinet to be bold and visionary, developing specific proposals to put nature at the heart of the recovery.
Today’s speech by Environment Secretary George Eustice once again fails to do that.
In their election manifesto, the Conservative Party promised world beating legislation that would establish an independent watchdog to replace the powers of the EU and set new, ambitious targets to help nature recover from its current disastrous condition. We were told reforms of the Common Agriculture Policy would drive billions of pounds of investment into nature-friendly farming.
So far none of these promises have been met and Mr Eustice has failed again to provide any detail of when and how these things will be delivered.
Instead we have a welcome but frankly tiny announcement of new money – well short of the investment that is needed – and a commitment to change the planning system where the purpose and details of that review remain opaque at best or frankly disingenuous.
Of course, any further protections for species are welcome, and we will work actively with the government to ensure that any new proposals do genuinely benefit nature. But we will need to see a step change in delivery before we are convinced that the government’s plans match its ‘green’ rhetoric.
We urge the UK Government to use this moment to reshape the economy for the long term. Resist temptation to deregulate to get a short term fix. Invest in the jobs and natural infrastructure which underpin our prosperity and create a more resilient economy that can withstand future shocks. Seize the moment and put nature at the heart of our economic recovery.”.
ENDS
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Good to see/read the RSPB taking a robust response to yet mote words and no deeds from this Government. The RSPB are right to do so, because quite frankly I don’t think we can believe the promises or the words this Government makesor says on many subjects but especially on green issues and the biodiversity crisis.
Under the pile of useless utterances that this Government produces I think they are as about as green as a blob of black ink..
Well, this is good. After years of keeping its head down (the nadir was perhaps that awful election squirrel a few years back – what was it’s name – actually quite appropriate as they do seem to spend a lot of time sitting on fences and tend to remain mute on important issues) the RSPB is getting almost fierce again. Well done Beccy Speight.
Credit to Beccy Speight for turning up the volume (a tiny bit).
She does well to pinpoint the minister’s lack of “specific proposals” and “detail”.
Unfortunately, she’s guilty of the same generalisations.
The RSPB needs to come up with its own specific proposals and detail – even if it means treading on the toes of organisations such as the NFU and the housebuilders’ federation.
“treading on the toes”
Be very afraid
A welcome response from Beccy Speight on behalf of RSPB. This government is all smoke and mirrors without any concrete proposals to do as it says, having now challenged that way of working RSPB needs to start to come up with firm proposals to put to ministers. This will perhaps get things moving or show the government up for what it really is yet again.
Well said, Beccy Speight. These seem well chosen words to me that also begin to reflect the level of anger, felt by all those alarmed by the state of nature in this country, at the gaping chasm between the Government’s rhetoric and its action.
The RSPB and other organisations hoped Eustice would come up with something substantial but knew from reading the signals emitted by this government that the state has no intention of directly contributing to nature recovery and that their priorities are simply the same old destruction to keep employment in construction high. All the predictions made before the election about the future being left to deregulated market forces are being confirmed and it is clear the government does not listen to reason only its financial backers. They are compromised, I hope fatally by their lack of ambition and imagination and the appalling greenwashing they have become past masters in.
Now read Tony Juniper eulogising Useless Eustice on Twitter. Pathetic!
I may need to re-assess following Mark’s next blog. But I am uneasy with Juniper nevertheless!