Environment Bill

Baroness Redfern Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 7th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Redfern (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I warmly welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate in support of restoring our natural habitats and increasing biodiversity through this wide-ranging and ambitious Bill, which I also welcome.

First, I endorse the proposal to establish a new independent office for environmental protection to enforce environmental law, making sure targets set are actioned. The goal is to leave the environment in a better place for future generations—not just greener, but having built indestructible steps for the protection of our environment. In setting targets within this framework, the Government will be able to clearly demonstrate the annual improvement progress, as well as to establish a review mechanism every five years. In the Bill, great emphasis is placed on tackling waste and demonstrating how the Government will work and consult more closely with manufacturers, who are ultimately responsible for the cost of disposing of their used packaging, and how the Government will support local authorities in helping them to create a more consistent approach to recycling from one authority to another. It has been demonstrated over many months that more collaboration is needed to stop confused messages being given to the public so that they can play their part, and to empower our citizens to continue to support the recycling chain, helping the country to reach the target of eliminating all avoidable waste by 2050. Locked in too is the Government’s responsibility to prevent the export of plastic waste around the world, which we all very much welcome.

Secondly, we know that new trees, woodlands and forests are needed in helping to reduce flood risk as well as enhancing the countryside so that we can all enjoy and experience it as we walk and admire nature, which benefits our well-being. Our horticultural sector must also be supported in its challenge to increase tree production and maintain high levels of biosecurity, ensuring that the UK trees we plant will be healthy and resilient to the impacts of changing climate and increasing threats from pests and diseases. This includes the creation of three new community forests, creating 6,000 hectares of new woodland by 2025, adding to the 500 hectares already planted in the last year. With all these new measures, the expansion of tree planting will form a central pillar to enable reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, and so that more green jobs can be created in the UK forestry and nursery sectors.

Thirdly, the Bill highlights the importance attached to improved management of water resources, halting discharges of sewage into our rivers to protect our waterways. As we know, we are experiencing much greater rainfall, and urgent action is required from water companies—which need to upgrade their facilities in the short term to accelerate progress on storm overflows—to address and improve our environment in the light of the climate change agenda. We need evidence of monitoring from the storm overflows task force to show how it is working now in reducing the frequency and volumes of sewage discharged into our watercourses and how that evidence will feed into the Government’s proposal to publish a plan by September 2022. Water companies are to publish data on an annual basis, which is to be welcomed. The general public also have to play their part in making sure they keep their drains clear of unwanted items entering the system, as water quality data shows that urgent action is needed. We must go further and faster.

Finally, I will touch on the recognition and the importance of both upland and lowland peat-lands. I look forward to hearing more about the Government’s new peat action plan. As we know, peat-lands play a large and vital role in trapping carbon and any damage occurring can result in emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so the sale of peat products must end soon. We must remember that they are our largest terrestrial carbon store and a haven for rare wildlife. We need more restrictions on the burning of heather on blanket bog, which, backed up by good regulation, will reduce the risk of wildfire outbreaks. The proposals set out in the Bill will address restoration and protection measures and help repair habitats and support wildlife in their fightback in this green agenda, which I warmly welcome.

Environment Bill

Baroness Redfern Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 5th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, this is one of the groups of amendments which really ought to be just swallowed wholesale by the Government. It has some excellent amendments in it.

I have signed Amendment 161, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, because it is a really good amendment with some very practical solutions for cleaning up our rivers. The way that we as an industrial society treat our rivers is one of the grossest examples of the way we trash our planet. We see rivers as little more than a dumping ground we can use to dispose of our rubbish when we cannot be bothered to sort out our waste disposal systems. It is time to stop that.

In particular, Amendment 161 emphasises the importance of nature-based solutions and other ways of separating our sewage from the clean water that falls on the surface as rain. It is absolutely absurd that we mix these two things together, instantly turning clean rainwater into raw sewage that, as far as we are concerned, is good for nothing. There are a great many nature-based solutions for treating sewage water. In the US, more than half of sewage is treated to become organic fertiliser, although some recent studies show that this can be contaminated by the inclusion of industrial waste. As long as we remove or cut out this waste, there is no reason why the UK cannot develop a well-regulated, safe industry to turn our domestic wastewater into useful resources like that. Alternatively, there are fascinating natural wastewater systems such as constructed wetlands, which use a combination of natural processes to create safe water, with the excellent secondary benefit of creating central wetland habitats.

I know that the Minister is keen on nature-based solutions, so I hope that he can expand on the Government’s plans for using nature to clean up our water and reach zero river sewage. Quite honestly, if I had to pick one amendment as the most crucial, it would have to be Amendment 166 tabled by the noble Duke, the Duke of Wellington, which sets the essential target of zero discharges of untreated sewage into rivers. This is the level of ambition that we should be working towards as a matter of urgency.

[Baroness Redfern (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, and other noble Lords who have spoken in support of this group of amendments dealing with sewage overflows. As I stated at Second Reading, action is needed now because time is short, particularly as we are experiencing much longer periods of heavy rainfall. It is imperative that water companies upgrade their facilities to address this issue and help improve our environment in the light of climate change. I am pleased to have the opportunity to add my voice to these amendments, which address the problem of untreated sewage and propose other measures to prevent further destruction of our aquatic environment.

We are witnessing a gradual but destructive process which is reducing wildlife habitats and choking plant life; it cannot continue. The Environment Bill should be strengthened to place a legal duty on water companies to reverse these impacts on the environment and, in particular, public health, and to help reduce the negative impacts for both young and old, who enjoy aquatic leisure pursuits.

Water companies must take all reasonable steps to prevent the flow of untreated sewage from storm overflows into our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It has to be stopped. We simply cannot keep saying that just a reduction is necessary; we must go much further, working towards eliminating these discharges. The harm caused by sewage discharges is a serious issue and must be a priority for the Government, who manage approximately 15,000 storm overflows in England. A plan to increase the continuous monitoring of storm overflows by sewerage companies by 2025, with much more detailed data being published at the earliest opportunity, obtained in as close to real time as possible, will stop sewage being spewed into our waters.

Finally, we need to address the use of technical failures as a justification for untreated sewage discharges, which last year increased by 46% compared with 2019 figures. This cannot continue to be condoned. Time is no longer a luxury we can afford. The sewage pollution crisis is here today and needs radical action; the general public know that and support action now.