RSPB Chief Exec Beccy Speight says:
This inquiry has laid bare the urgent need for Government to get a grip on the nature crisis. Ten years after pledging to ‘improve the natural environment within a generation’ the reality is that 15 per cent of the UK’s wildlife is at risk of extinction. Positive words and pledges on the international stage are not yet being backed up with sufficient action to restore nature at home. With our wildlife still in freefall, urgent action is needed.
The much delayed ‘flagship’ Environment Bill needs to come back to Parliament as soon as possible, with improved and binding targets to end the loss of nature by 2030 and an Office for Environmental Protection with teeth. And we need joined-up cross government commitment to restoring our natural environment across the UK, with funding and policies to match This year, with the COP26 and G7 summits taking place in the UK, and the eyes of the world on us, must be the year the Government acts to revive our world.
See report – click here.
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but we got Brexit Done though so that’s the main thing, right?
Good for Beccy Speight. I detect a somewhat more forceful approach by her than perhaps her predecessor which I think is good for Nature and good for the RSPB. As she rightly says actions speak so much louder than words and so far there have been no significant actions.
Whether this rotten Government will respond to what she says is highly doubtful.
Leaving the EU is a disaster for nature conservation, (as well as for this country as a whole). It gives this Westminster Government a free hand to remove all the EU protection of nature and to do nothing of consequence to protect and help nature . Their record in this area is appalling. Their view, judged by their actions or lack of them, is that nature just gets in their way.
However we must no forget though that the Government’s in Scotland and Wales seem to have a more positive attitude towards helping nature, in great contrast to the Westminster Government.
Hopefully their more sympathetic approaches will start to be evident by their actions.
Over the past few months I have started to get the impression that Beccy Speight may be much more willing to speak her mind and rustle feathers than her predecessor ever was. I sincerely hope this proves to be the case. We need a powerful NGO to counter a useless government.