Does Brexit Provide an Opportunity for the United Kingdom to Become a World Leader in Respect of Environmental Governance? - Ella
Europe has been central in determining in how the environment has been managed in the UK over the last 45 years. Leaving the EU could therefore result in a fundamental shift in this management. Once Brexit has occurred, regulations relating to the environment will be able to diverge from EU standards, and in theory this could lead to much better policies which avoid current criticisms, such as the distortions caused by the Common Agricultural Policy. However, such a positive change is far from an inevitability. The environment isn’t included in the twelve principles adopted by the government to guide its approach to Brexit (Lucas 2017) and aside from this apparent lack of political motivation to make positive changes, there are a number of barriers to better environmental governance. Firstly, the EU environmental framework provides the threat of sanctions which stimulates action, and with limited accountability to the electorate through the UK electoral system (the environment rarely ...