A group of senior environmental experts have today written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Liz Truss to warn that a British exit from the European Union would damage the UK's environment and undermine its international influence on green policies.
The letter is signed by 14 green policy experts, all with extensive experience of UK-EU negotiations, including former chief executive of the Environment Agency Baroness Young, former director-general of the National Trust Dame Fiona Reynolds and Professor Sir John Laughton, former chair of the Royal Commission on Environment and Pollution (RCEP).
The authors say the European Union's environmental legislation has had a "hugely positive" effect on the UK's beaches, water and rivers, while higher manufacturing standards for cars, lights and household appliances have lowered consumer energy costs.
The letter warns that a Brexit would cause uncertainty over which existing parts of EU environmental legislation would continue to apply in the UK. It also voices fears that the UK would lose its ability to shape international policy.
"As individuals who have spent much of our working lives seeking to deliver a greener Britain, we know from experience that EU coordination, legislation and policy has been critical to improving the UK's environmental quality," the letter reads.
"If the UK were to leave the EU it is very unclear which elements of existing European policy would continue to apply to the UK," it continues. "The environmental rules of engagement with the EU after Brexit are very uncertain and would be subject to lengthy and protracted negotiation due to our new status as an outsider. We would no longer be able to shape EU policy and our influence on the environmental performance of other member states would decline very sharply once we were no longer at the negotiating table."
Baroness Young, former chief executive of the Environment Agency and RSPB, warned that a Brexit could reverse four decades of progress on the environment. "Environmental quality, clean air, healthy oceans and rich natural resources can only be secured by collaboration across national boundaries and common EU standards promote new technologies and businesses," she said in an accompanying statement.
Meanwhile fellow signatory Professor Andrew Balmford, professor of conservation science at the University of Cambridge, stressed that remaining a part of the EU is essential to ensuring the UK's voice is heard during international policy debates. "Individual nations can have limited influence, but working through the EU greatly enhances our potential to tackle transnational issues such as climate change, deforestation and unsustainable wildlife harvesting," he said.
The experts also warned that the UK government has a tendency of prioritising short-term growth over the health of Britain's natural environment. Professor Lawton said the EU often acts as a brake on this type of short-term thinking. "UK politics has a tendency to be short term and see the natural environment as an impediment to economic growth, and EU agreements help mitigate this by encouraging us to be more long term in our public policy," he said.
Read the full letter below.
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