Defra Secretary uses wide-ranging conference speech to name-check key green achievements and pledges to deliver a 'tailored' approach to environmental protections post-Brexit
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom has today delivered an impassioned speech in support of the UK's environmental agenda, promising to deliver an "environment that works for everyone".
Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, Leadsom outlined her support for a wide range of green policies, from cutting plastic pollution with a ban on microbeads to planting more trees and pressing ahead with the government's national pollinator strategy.
"Our national pollinator strategy will help support our bees and our pollinators, who are crucial to our environment and to our food," she told the audience. "The 5p charge on plastic bags will see six billion fewer plastic bags in circulation this year - reducing the litter on our streets and the amount of plastic in our rivers and seas. And in the coming weeks I'll be taking steps to ban the use of microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products."
She also promised Britain's exit from the EU would help further progress efforts to improve the UK's environment rather than stall it, as many environmentalists fear.
Leadsom said a "tailored" approach to environmental protection would be at the heart of her Department's impending 25-year plan for nature. "I'm truly excited that our departure from the EU means that we can develop policies that are truly tailored to or most precious habitats and wildlife, not a one-size-fits-all approach for 28 Member States," she said. "And it's this opportunity we will be seizing as we work on our ambitious 25-year plan for the environment."
Leadsom underlined her support for international action to tackle climate change, describing how "proud" she was at seeing the UK take a central role in brokering the crucial climate change talks last year in Paris, which resulted in the landmark Paris Agreement. She said she wanted to see the UK play an "even greater leadership role" in international climate diplomacy, echoing promises made earlier in the day by Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark.
Leadsom's express support for the Paris Agreement, climate adaption measures and habitat protection are likely to be welcomed by green businesses and NGOs.
They also distance her ideologically from the views of the climate-sceptic wing of the Conservative party - many of whom supported Leadsom in her failed leadership bid earlier this summer.
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