Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog, is to receive a 47% increase in government funding this year as its role expands to support a “green recovery” and provide environmental scrutiny of the government’s controversial “Project Speed”. In its expanded role, Natural England will be a statutory consultee on the government’s “Project Speed” to accelerate infrastructure projects, an aspiration recently branded “an utter disaster” by conservationists. The forthcoming environment bill includes the requirement for all developments to provide a “net gain” in biodiversity, which Natural England will assess. Our task at Natural England is to get these things as complementary as they can be,” he said. In the run-up to Cop26 we must show the world we mean business, tackling the twin nature and climate emergencies, and Natural England has a vital role to play.

Source: The Guardian May 20, 2021 17:37 UTC