Figures released today by environmental organisations reveal that the economic costs of removing or weakening laws in just four of the areas covered by the REUL Bill could reach £82.94bn over thirty years.
These high figures come from the damage that could be caused in areas including the health impacts of poorer air and water quality and loss of recycling business opportunities due to weaker chemical regulations.
Analysis for Wildlife and Countryside Link by the Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec) investigated the economic implications of weakening environmental laws covering chemical regulation, water pollution, air quality, and habitats. With thousands of other retained EU laws in the REUL Bill’s firing line, the full cost is likely to be far higher.
The REUL Bill is expected to be debated in the House of Commons on 18th January. Campaigners are calling for the Bill to be immediately withdrawn. The charities note that the proposals specifically prohibit new regulations that could impose costs on businesses – even administrative costs. They say this is a deregulatory lock-in clause, which means that the bill cannot strengthen environmental law, but gives Ministers unprecedented freedom to weaken it.
Dr Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Prevention of air and water pollution, protection of precious wildlife and habitats, precautions against hazardous chemical use – they are all put at risk by the Retained EU Law Bill. If long-standing protection for nature is removed or weakened, the economic consequences could run into the billions. Add to this the costs of years of uncertainty while half the environmental statute book is up in the air and thousands of hours of civil service time spent reviewing laws simply because of where they came from. All together, the costs of this economic and environmental wrecking ball bill could be astronomical at a time when the UK – and our environment – can least afford it.”
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Posted On: 18/01/2023