Sustainable resource sector needs 'strong and stable' policy environment in order to thrive
4 min read
One of the clear policy priorities for the sustainable resource community is certainty over Brexit, says Policy Connect.
After weeks of election fever and political uncertainty, the time has come when the new, albeit diminished, Conservative Party has laid out its legislative agenda for the coming year in Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech. This address has set in stone what the new Government – likely propped up by the DUP – will be prioritising for action in Parliament this year. As always, the sustainability sector looks towards this speech to see if Government is heeding its advice.
Before the election, leading organisations from the sustainable resource sector outlined their key manifesto ‘asks’. Policy Connect published its own manifesto for sustainability, which called upon Government to “promote the circular economy in an Industrial Strategy, and commit to providing the stimulus for remanufacturing and greater resource efficiency, which will create jobs and reduce waste.” The Aldersgate Group, CIWM, ESA and the Resource Association have also published their key policy demands for this Government. So what does the sustainable resource sector want?
A clear priority policy for the sustainable resource community relates to certainty over Brexit. The Resource Association called for the new Government to “guarantee that existing environmental standards and protections will remain in place as a minimum and commit to exploring improvements, regardless of the outcome of Brexit negotiations”. On a similar tone, CIWM has asked for Government to maintain current environmental standards whist showing “ambition on delivering clean growth and a better environment, irrespective of Brexit”. Meanwhile, the Aldersgate Group has called for standards that “require products sold in the UK to be designed with resource efficiency in mind” which should be “as good as, if not better, than those in the EU Circular Economy Package to avoid putting British businesses and consumers at a disadvantage”.
Simply put, the Government needs to provide clear assurances that standards will be protected so as to provide the UK with certainty and competitive advantages after we leave the EU. The Queen’s Speech was widely expected to set out further details on the proposed legislative agenda for Brexit – primarily via the Great Repeal Bill – but there was less clarity around the technical details of which standards will remain in UK law after March 2019. The legislative challenge associated with Brexit should not be understated. In fact, it made up a central pillar of the speech. Such is the enormity of transferring the EU acquis into UK legislation that next year’s Queen’s Speech will be cancelled, so ‘business-as-usual’ policy-making is heavily interrupted in Parliament over the next two years. How this disruption will affect the sustainability sector is largely speculative, but it almost certainly de-prioritises the sector’s demands at a time when businesses need more, not less, certainty.
Secondly, there are strong calls for a resource efficiency strategy. The ESA, CIWM and the Aldersgate Group have all called on the new Government to take action here, because of the sustainability sector’s understanding that greater integration of resource efficiency into the UK’s industrial strategy could deliver environmental and economic benefits. Given that the Tory manifesto did not make any commitments in this vein, it is unsurprising that the Queen’s Speech did not touch on this theme. However, there is still a good opportunity for the sustainability sector to advance these issues with the ongoing work on the industrial strategy – a policy idea which featured in Wednesday’s ceremony. Ultimately, the simple statement that Government would “continue to support international action against climate change, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement” was a significant defiance of Trump’s withdrawal from this key accord.
The final common theme from these organisations’ manifestos will strongly resonate with the Tory party’s campaign messaging: the sector wants a strong and stable environment for businesses to operate in. The ESA has called on Government to provide “policy stability to underpin investment in waste treatment facilities”, Delegates at Policy Connect’s Brexit event on redesigning waste and resource policy in December were clear that a strong legislative framework was required for business growth. This, of course, isn’t something the Queen’s Speech is able to address, and given the heightened political risk surrounding Theresa May’s leadership, the Queen’s Speech could be seen as the beginning, rather than the end, of the challenge for the PM’s tenure. The sustainability sector’s desire for strength and stability may well not be addressed for some time to come.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
