Brexit Could Become 'Catch-all Excuse' To Push Aside Green Regulations in Response to Industry Lobbying, Experts Warn

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Experts today urged lawmakers to stay strong in the face of industry lobbying to weaken the UKโ€™s climate policies and environmental regulations as part of a โ€˜hardโ€™ย Brexit.

The comments were made at an oral evidence session of the House of Lordsโ€™ EU Energy and Environment sub-committee. The committee is conducting an inquiry entitled โ€˜Brexit: environment and climate changeโ€™ to inform a report due in earlyย 2017.

Professor Michael Grubb from University College London told Lords that he is increasingly aware of a narrative that Britain is desperate for foreign investment and will do anything to make itself industryย friendly.

โ€œThere are clearly lobbying pressures and, by some forms of government, consideration for abandoning the carbon price floor, an extraordinary decision,โ€ he said. โ€œThe risk we face is that Brexit becomes a catch-all excuse for pushing aside anything else to attract foreignย investment.โ€ย 

The experts also warned Lords to be vigilant against those seeking to use Brexit as an excuse to weaken current air quality laws, while transferring EU laws to the UK through The Great Repealย Bill.

The danger, as pointed out by Alan Andrews, Clean Air Project Leader at ClientEarth, a non-profit environmental law organization, is that very subtle amendments to the directive would rob it of its legal effect. And by not replacing enforcement mechanisms once Britain leaves the EU, air quality laws, could be rendered, largelyย ineffective.

โ€œWeโ€™ve seen that the government has tried to weaken the Ambient Air Quality Directives particularly in relation to nitrous oxide for years. Although that failed, and the Directive remains unchanged, I think it shows the vulnerabilities of a post-Brexitย world.โ€

Sarah Mukherjee, Director of Environment at Water UK, an agency that works with Defra and water regulators, pointed out that there are risks the UK-based companies could challenge the need to comply with EUย regulations.

In countries such as Norway, which aligns with European environmental standards despite not being a member of the EU, compliance is not very high, even with a court process to ensureย enforcement.

โ€œIn some parts of Norway, wastewater treatment works are only 50% compliance, and leakage is very high,โ€ she said. โ€œWhat would stop a company with big pockets from challenging any piece of legislation in any industry, thatโ€™s made on the back of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision, on day one ofย Brexit?โ€

In the House of Lordsโ€™ EU Energy and Environment sub-committee last week, experts warned of a potentially โ€œenormous gapโ€ in environmental regulations if the UK pursued a hardย Brexit.

Echoing previous warnings, when asked what policies could benefit the UK environment and climate post-Brexit, Andrews asserted that the priority was to keep current laws as they are until Britain has carefully developedย alternatives.

Main image: House of Lords committee hearing.ย ย Screen grab fromย Parliamentlive.tv

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