Summary:
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The administration announced that it would miss the October 31 deadline for establishing goals to improve water, air, and wildlife.
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Ahead of the COP27 climate summit, MPs and green organizations argued it was embarrassing for the UK to miss the deadline.
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The delay comes as the prime minister is under fire for missing COP27. Political opponents and environmental activists have said that Mr. Sunak has “failed as a leader” by not attending the summit in Egypt next month.
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Caroline Lucas, a lawmaker from the Green Party, said in a tweet, “In a short statement released this morning, Defra admits that it hasn’t met its legal duty to publish environment bill targets.”
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The inability to reach the deadline was called “an enormous disgrace to them and very alarming for the UK’s environment” by Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary for Labour.
The government of Rishi Sunak has put off making goals that can be enforced to clean up the environment and reduce pollution.
The administration announced that it would miss the October 31 deadline for establishing goals to improve water, air, and wildlife.
Ahead of the COP27 climate summit, MPs and green organizations argued it was embarrassing for the UK to miss the deadline.
The delay comes as the prime minister is under fire for missing COP27.
Political opponents and environmental activists have said that Mr. Sunak has “failed as a leader” by not attending the summit in Egypt next month.
However, Mr. Sunak has justified his choice by stating that although addressing climate change was “important” to him, he was primarily concerned with domestic issues.
Putting off environmental goals raises more questions about how committed Mr. Sunak is to green plans while his government struggles with economic unrest at home.
Before the COP27 meeting, the government wanted to finish the goals so that the UK delegation could tell other countries about them.
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COP27 is what?
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UN issues a warning as vital climate threshold disappears.
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After a fight over sewage, an environmental bill is passed.
The Environment Act, passed in November of last year, mandates the setting of at least one target in each of the four key areas of waste reduction; air quality; water quality; and biodiversity.
In a statement to MPs, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said that the government would not be able to reveal the goals by October 31 as “required” by law.
The “huge public reaction” to a government consultation on the targets, according to Ms. Coffey, was the cause of the delay.
“Extinction threatened”
She said that more than 180,000 people responded to the government’s consultation, which asked for opinions on its target ideas and ended on June 27.
Ms. Coffey stated that those responses “needed to be analyzed and carefully evaluated,” but she did not provide a new deadline for the targets’ publication.
She promised that the government would “continue to work at a pace” to publicise the goals and present them to Parliament for approval before they become law.
According to Katie-jo Luxton, head of global conservation at RSPB England, the delay has raised “great doubts about when we may expect to see the final targets.”
She said the goals will reassure the public, “who are understandably worried that over half of England’s wildlife is in decline and that more than one in ten species is threatened with extinction.”
Caroline Lucas, a lawmaker from the Green Party, said in a tweet, “In a short statement released this morning, Defra admits that it hasn’t met its legal duty to publish environment bill targets.” This is crucial.
The inability to reach the deadline was called “an enormous disgrace to them and very alarming for the UK’s environment” by Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary for Labour.
He said: “This is another instance of the Conservatives talking the talk on the environment without actually taking the leadership and action that is sorely required.”
RSPB fight
RSPB England tweeted a video of Ms. Lucas asking the prime minister about Liz Truss’s administration’s “wrecking ball” approach to wildlife under the hashtag “AttackOnNature.”
Lord Lucas, a hereditary member of the House of Lords, hit back by calling the environmental group a lousy word.
The UN assessment that says there is “no credible pathway” to keep the increase in global temperatures below a crucial threshold of 1.5C coincides with the announcement that Mr. Sunak will not attend COP27.
According to scientists, global warming of more than 1.5C would have hazardous effects on individuals.
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, told the BBC on Wednesday that countries need to pay more attention to climate change or risk a disaster.
In the meantime, No. 10 has declared that Mr. Sunak’s reappointed Climate Minister, Graham Stuart, will no longer attend cabinet.
During the Truss premiership, the government announced a review of the UK’s goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 last month.
Former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore was in charge of the assessment. He focused on making sure that the UK’s fight against climate change maximizes economic growth while improving energy security and making it more affordable for consumers and businesses.
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
