The Wildlife Trusts are deeply disappointed by today's (Tuesday 30 June) Government announcement to spend billions on roads at a time when serious investment in nature could address the twin emergencies of our age - climate change and nature loss - as well as provide jobs and improve people's lives.
Today the Prime Minister announces a new deal for Britain “which puts jobs and infrastructure at the centre of the government’s economic growth strategy.”
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech, Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Today the Government has announced billions for road building projects and just £40 million for nature. This is hugely disappointing. Serious investment in nature could provide a green recovery which addresses the twin crises of our age – climate change and loss of the natural world – while simultaneously providing many more jobs. Instead, the Government have chosen to spend billions of pounds on roads which will take us in precisely the wrong direction and mean that we keep lurching from one crisis to another. Serious investment in nature could provide a green recovery which addresses the twin crises of our age – climate change and loss of the natural world – while simultaneously providing many more jobs. It’s vital that we look to solutions that will help address nature loss and climate change, not make them worse. An economic recovery which puts investment in nature first would reap big dividends in tackling climate crisis – helping to absorb up to a third of UK emissions* – as well as tackling health inequalities, and providing more jobs, skills and opportunities to support the next generation.”
In his speech, the Prime Minister made specific reference to building fast and removing wildlife that presents an obstacle. The Wildlife Trusts are extremely concerned that this would jeopardise species such as dolphins and newts and also the abundance of our wildlife that is already deeply depleted. The Habitats and Birds Regulations have been reviewed by DEFRA numerous times and in 2012 were declared fit for purpose.
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Posted On: 30/06/2020