Policymakers must now consider the environmental impacts of their choices

An Environment Act duty requiring ministers and policymakers to consider the environmental impact of new and revised policies came into force on 1 November.

Under the Environmental Principles Duty, policymakers must have regard to:

• the integration principle – environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policies;

• the prevention principle – policy makers should aim to prevent environmental harm;

• the rectification at source principle – policy should address environmental damage at the source, to avoid the need to remedy its effects later;

• the polluter pays principle – the costs of environmental damage should be borne by those causing it, rather than the person who suffers the effects of the resulting environmental damage, or the wider community; and

• the precautionary principle – where the threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage exists, a lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

The Office for Environmental Protection welcomed the implementation of the environmental principles policy statement, which was laid before Parliament in January. It said it will now scrutinise and monitor the implementation of this obligation across Government, and report to Parliament after the summer of 2024.