I ddarllen y blog yma yng Nghymraeg cliciwch yma os gwelwch yn dda

We all want nature to be better protected after we leave the EU, but there are still some big gaps in our domestic laws which mean that wouldn’t be the case, posing huge risks for the species and special places that we love. And as nature doesn't respect political borders, we urgently need the four UK governments to work together to secure best possible outcomes for our shared environment.

We need key members of the Welsh Government to fight for nature’s future once we are outside the EU. A letter from you could influence the way they prioritise nature when designing new laws and institutions – scroll down for more info on how to take action.

Image: Kingfisher, Ben Andrew rspb-images.com

If there are gaps in the law when we leave the EU, the environment will suffer

There are glaring gaps in the UK Government's EU (Withdrawal) Bill that aims to convert EU environmental laws into domestic law. For example, it fails to carry across the EU environmental principles that ensure laws are properly implemented in practice.

This means we risk losing strong legal principles, such as the principle that polluters should pay for the damage they cause, or the principle that if there is a risk of serious environmental damage, decision-makers should take into account and act on that risk even in the absence of full scientific certainty.

We need an environmental watchdog to protect nature when we leave the EU

Of course, even if we have strong laws that protect nature on paper, we still need the tools to ensure they are being properly applied on the ground. Currently, several EU institutions, including the European Commission and the European Court of Justice, largely fulfil that role. Outside of the EU, we will need our own institutions to ensure that our environmental laws are implemented in full and that governments and public sector bodies can be held to account.

A strong, independent environmental watchdog would be the powerful tool we need to to safeguard Wales' environment

It is essential that members of the public, like you, can trust that an independent watchdog is there to look out for the environment and give you a voice if they have a valid complaint that is not being listened to.

We must ensure our governments work together to address the UK-wide governance gap

This is the first big opportunity for the governments of our four nations to establish themselves as global leaders for nature’s recovery post-Brexit.

Wales already has its own ambitious laws to help drive the restoration of our natural heritage. But tackling environmental challenges also requires close cross-border cooperation. From the conservation of migratory and wide-ranging species to the management of shared river basins and other natural habitats, few environmental issues can be effectively addressed without working together.

We currently rely on EU law to ensure a common set of minimum environmental standards across the four nations, which are otherwise responsible for their own environmental policies.

Without these common standards, there is a risk we could see a ‘race to the bottom’ post-Brexit, i.e. a damaging process of competitive deregulation whereby our nations face pressure to seek short term economic advantages by lowering standards, forcing the others to follow suit.

That is why we need to make sure that all four nations have similarly high standards, and an independent body, co-owned by the four nations, with the power to hold all four governments to account for upholding and advancing our environment laws.

Image: Otter, Ben Andrew rspb-images.com

Challenge Lesley Griffiths and Mark Drakeford to lead the way

Any solution needs to enable individual citizens to hold governments and other decision-makers to account. As campaigners, letter-writers and people who already speak up for nature, that means you!

You can influence the future of our nature laws and how we enforce them, by writing to the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secreary for Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Mark Drakeford (the Welsh Government member of the UK Joint Ministerial Committee, which helps the four governments work together). 

Encourage them to continue working with the UK and devolved governments to address the governance gap and set out proposals for a set of joint or coordinated institutions capable of holding all four governments to account on their environmental obligations and commitments.  

Here are some of the key points you might want to include in your message:

  • We need new joint or coordinated institutions, established under primary legislation, with the power to hold all four governments to account for their environmental performance. A legislative underpinning is vital to ensure that the institutions have the independence they need and cannot be disbanded at the whim of any future government.
  • The new body (or bodies) established to address the governance gap should have a presence in each of the four nations and report to all four legislatures.
  • One of the functions of this body should be to ensure that the EU environmental principles continue to be used to: interpret the law, guide future decision-making, and if necessary give a basis for legal challenges when the law is broken.
  • Citizens and civil society organisations must have an easily accessible mechanism to raise potential breaches of environmental law in all four UK nations.

If you need some inspiration about how to write a strong letter, see our guide to campaigning for nature.

You can help us track the impact of the campaign – please let us know at campaigns.wales@rspb.org.uk if you've sent an objection, and any replies you receive.

If we are to restore nature in a generation, we urgently need to see a much more open, transparent, consultative and collaborative approach between the UK and devolved governments in relation to the future of our environment. And we need a much greater focus on securing the best possible environmental outcomes across the four nations. You can help make this a reality, thank you.