Friday, 8 May 2015

Blue meets Green – What does Conservative party’s win mean for UK's environment?



The results of the general election are in. David Cameron will continue to lead the country for the next 5 years. But how does the UK’s environmental issues fare in the 2015 election manifesto of the Conservative party? Of the several promises listed in it, these grabbed my attention.

Creation of Blue belts for protecting marine environments in the UK and UK ‘s 14 overseas territories: Following on from the work in the previous term, the manifesto promises to complete the network of Marine Conservation Zones to create a UK Blue Belt of protected sites. Last year the coalition government  instituted a  Marine Protected Area around the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific –the world’s largest contiguous ocean reserve  with 830,000 square kilometers (3.5 times the landmass of UK).  The manifesto promises to extend this programme around the UK’s 14 Overseas Territories, subject to local approval. 

 Planting 11 million trees: This promise is significant especially because public forests and woodland where supposedly the trees would  be planted are to be kept in trust for the nation.

Building new environmentally sensitive infrastructures: The conservative manifesto promises to build roads and railways with reduced environmental impact. It promises to cut light pollution from new roads, build better noise barriers, include more tunnelling, and help restore habitats lost during construction. A specific case mentioned is that of the construction of High Speed 2 - the planned railways connecting London Euston with the Midlands through to the North. The manifesto promises to ‘replenish locally any biodiversity lost in the construction’. How they are going to achieve this is not mentioned in the manifesto.  Importantly ‘biodiversity’ cannot be easily replenished. Yes trees can be planted, some animals introduced,  however ‘ biodiversity’   refers to the variety of living organisms in different ecosystems starting with microbes and is complex. Thus, ‘replenishing biodiversity’ is not easily achievable, at least not  in totality, though conservation is possible and must be pursued .Therefore the 25 years plan that the Conservatives will develop to restore UK’s biodiversity is commendable.

Pocket Parks in urban areas: The manifesto promises to launch a programme of ‘pocket parks’  - small green spaces that town and city dwellers can enjoy .This is an excellent idea. Here in Ecoratorio, we have repeatedly highlighted the need for more green spaces in the cities.

One omission in the manifesto is the lack of any mention of how they plan to tackle pesticide overuse in the crops, which has been blamed for declining bee numbers. This is a lapse as the manifesto says that they ‘will help our bees to thrive’.


In the days ahead, we will see whether the new government remains committed to its promises.But one fact is clear that  a green Britain will assuredly contribute to a ‘greater Britain’.

Reference: Conservative Party Manifesto 2015  https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Disclaimer

By using this blog, you signify your agreement to this disclaimer. Do not use this website if you do not agree to this disclaimer.

This blog is published by Sarah Stephen and Ruth Stephen, and reflects the personal views of the contributors, in their individual capacities as a concerned citizen of this planet. The term 'Ecoratorio', as well as every graphic, opinion, comment, and statement expressed in this blog are the exclusive property of the blog publishers and contributors (© 2009 - present), unless explicitly stated otherwise, and should not be disseminated without the written consent of the author(s). The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily representative of the views of any school, college, University, company, organisation, city, town, state, country, or church where the author(s) have studied, worked, worshipped, or lived, and is not sponsored or endorsed by them.

This blog and its contents does not receive any sponsorship, financial or otherwise, neither is it aimed at generating any money.

The matter on this blog has been prepared for informational purposes only, and the reader(s) should not solely rely upon this information for any purpose nor should he/she assume that this information applies to his/her specific situation. Furthermore, the matter on this blog may or may not reflect the current and future trends/developments, may or may not be general or specific, accordingly, information on this blog is not promised, or guaranteed, to be correct or complete. The publishers and author(s) explicitly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken, or not taken, based on any, or all, the contents of this blog. Thus, the reader(s) is/are reading the posts and arriving at conclusions about the information, or about the author(s), or otherwise, at his/her own risk.

This blog may contain weblinks, which are provided solely for the reader(s) convenience. Such weblinks to another blog or website does not imply any relationship, affiliation, endorsement, responsibility, or approval of the linked resources or their contents (over which we have no control). Accessing these links will be at the reader(s)’s own risk.

The publishers and author(s) are not responsible for translation and interpretation of content. Occasionally, the blog might contain subjects which may be considered offensive from certain individuals’ points-of-view, and the author(s) refuses to accept any liability for any psychological, physical, and emotional reactions, short-term or long-term, which the posts might generate in the reader(s). However, each post in this blog is the individual opinion of the author(s) and is not intended to malign any city/town/village, state, country, continent, faith, religion, practice, ethnic group, club, organisation, company, or individual. Neither are the publishers and author(s) responsible for any statements bound to government, religious, or other laws from the reader(s)’s country of origin.

The publishers and author(s) reserves the right to update, edit, delete or otherwise remove, the posts or any comments, the latter of which might be deemed offensive or spam. The publishers and author(s) cannot warrant that the use of this blog will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects on this site will be corrected. The publishers and author(s) also reserves the right to publish in print media, in whole or part, any of the posts which might be an edited version. If the reader(s) has a problem with any post, the publishers and author(s) expects them to contact them, explaining the reasons for their discomfort. However, if the reader(s) choose to communicate with the publishers and author(s) by email, the reader(s) must note that since the security of unencrypted email is uncertain, sending sensitive or confidential emails holds the risks of such uncertainty and possible lack of confidentiality.

The publishers and author(s) reserve the right to change this Disclaimer, from time to time, in their sole and absolute discretion. If the reader(s) using this website after the institution of such changes, he/she is signifying their agreement to these changes. The publishers and author(s) also reserve the right to discontinue any aspect of this website at any time.

Thankyou.