Green Brexit: Rhetoric or Reality?
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905819854317 |
| Author | Andrew Jordan,Viviane Gravey,Charlotte Burns. Brendan Moore |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
JUNE 2019 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 37
Green Brexit:
Rhetoric or Reality?
The UK government has promised to deliver a ‘Green Brexit’. But will
environmental standards be protected after Brexit? Charlotte Burns.
Brendan Moore, Viviane Gravey and Andrew Jordan examine the
evidence and find a policy shrouded in uncertainty.
On 23 June 2016 the United
Kingdom voted to leave
the European Union. The
environment did not feature
much in the campaign but has since
been a major focus of attention. The
National Audit Oce (NAO) identied the
Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Aairs (Defra) as the government
department second most aected by Brexit
due to the extensive Europeanisation of
environmental, agricultural and sheries
policies. The Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which
is responsible for climate change mitigation,
also has a substantial burden, working out
the implications of Brexit for the future of UK
greenhouse gas reduction, energy eciency
and renewable energy targets, as well as
public support for investment in low-carbon
industries and transition. Given the extensive
Europeanisation of the sector, an immediate
concern posed by Brexit is whether leaving
the EU will lead to weaker domestic
environmental standards and ambition.
The government has sought to head
o environmental concerns by promising
to deliver a this goal. There are three
principal challenges that the government
must address if it is sincere in its desire to
deliver a Green Brexit: the environmental
governance gap; the risk of weaker
environmental standards; and the lack of
eective co-ordination of environmental
policy across the UK and between Ireland
and Northern Ireland.
Political Insight May 2019.indd 37 08/05/2019 10:56
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