Nurturing Nature examines natural environment policy in England, and the UK’s international contribution to protecting important habitats and biodiversity. It recommends policy measures to not just halt the decline in the state of the natural environment, but to restore and improve it.
With DECC releasing a report on the safety of fracking, Environment & Energy Research Fellow Simon Moore has been in the news explaining the potential benefits of shale gas if it can be extracted in an economically and environmentally viable way.
We were pleased to see a number of elements of the Budget statement that follow recommendations laid out in previous Policy Exchange reports. Overall on growth, the Budget is likely to come out positive, but leaves the toughest political decisions on public sector pay to the future.
Gas Works? says that the government is, “unnecessarily gambling with billpayers' money”. It says that the UK’s energy generation plans are based on forecasting future gas prices which is a flawed strategy, potentially resulting in the UK missing out on the potential economic and environmental benefits of shale gas.
Planning magazine covers Policy Exchange report Nurturing Nature, citing the report's findings that green space is being lost because local authorities are failing to force developers to replace green land lost as a result of development. The report calls for the NPPF to explicitly state that large developments must deliver a net gain in biodiversity.
Public Service magazine covers Policy Exchange report Nurturing Nature. It reports the finding that local authorities are failing to enforce rules designed to protect England's natural environment.
The planning system is failing to protect some of England's most threatened wildlife and important habitats. Nurturing Nature finds that mechanisms designed to protect England's natural environment and compensate for any damage to it are haphazardly applied and woefully monitored.
Gas Works? says that the government is “unnecessarily gambling with billpayers' money”. It says that the UK’s energy generation plans are based on forecasting future gas prices which is a flawed strategy, potentially resulting in the UK missing out on the potential economic and environmental benefits of shale gas.
Following the recent drought conditions, despite heavy rainfall, Policy Exchange Director Neil O'Brien makes the case for reform of the water market - as put forward in reports Untapped Potential and Water retail services competition in England and Wales - in order to protect against the same issues again in the future.
Head of Environment & Energy Simon Less makes the case from report Greening the economy - not 'green' economy that the government’s industrial policies will be costly and hamper growth; resources are being squandered that could have been used to deliver both more growth and greater emissions reduction.
This debate will consider whether there is a genuine problem with climate action on the right of politics and how those who care about the environment might be better able to persuade doubters of the need for policy intervention.
Writer and philosopher Roger Scruton joins Policy Exchange to talk about his new book Green Philosophy: How to think seriously about the planet, and taking questions in which he argues that conservatism is far better suited to tackle environmental problems than either liberalism or socialism.
