The Environmental Policy Forum (EPF) has issued an open letter to Prime Minister Liz Truss warning against the ‘folly of regressing nature protections’. A coalition of 13 professional bodies and learned societies – including the Landscape Institute (LI) – the EPF represents around 70,000 environmental professionals. It describes government policies first outlined on 23 September as an ‘attack on nature’.https://twitter.com/SocEnv_HQ/status/1580184534141673473This comes just over a week after 78 environmental, animal welfare, and heritage organisations also urged the government to maintain existing environmental protections.Read the EPF letter in full.
Update: 14 October 2022
On Friday 14 October, the prime minister sacked Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and appointed Jeremy Hunt as his replacement. As chancellor, it was Kwarteng’s 23 September ‘mini’ emergency budget that first sparked fears of environmental regression. This latest announcement does not necessarily indicate a shift in policy, however. The turmoil in Westminster is continuing to prompt speculation, but to date, the government has still not indicated a firm trajectory on environmental policy. The LI is continuing to monitor the situation and will keep our members informed of any relevant developments.
