Commenting on the today’s Nature Recovery Green Paper and new Environment Act targets, Megan Randles, a Political Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:
“Today was a chance for Boris Johnson to deliver real action to restore our nature-depleted seas and address the plastic pollution crisis. Instead, he appears to have re-written vague definitions of what proper nature protection actually means to continue to dodge taking urgent action and allow big industrial polluters to continue trashing our environment.
“In the nature recovery green paper, the government’s definition of what ‘effective protection’ or ‘30 by 30 criteria’ actually entails falls far short of full or high protection, making a mockery of its recent membership of the high ambition coalition for ocean protection. Scientists have made clear that to help our fragile marine protected areas and coastal communities to recover and rebound we need areas that are completely off limits to human activities
“Despite significant public concern over plastic waste, Johnson’s answer is to sit tight for another 20 years then only take action if it’s “technically, environmentally and economically practicable” so creating more loopholes to delay.
“If the crisis facing our natural world wasn’t so serious, these vague soundbites and lengthy timelines would be laughable. Unless solid short-term, legally-binding targets are introduced to cut single-use plastic by 50% by 2025, alongside an immediate ban on industrial fishing in England’s marine protected areas, these policies will change little while undermining the health and prosperity of communities who depend on our natural world.”
