Government Correct to Head Off Climate and Nature Bill
January 28, 2025
The ‘Climate and Nature Private Members’ Bill’, brought forward by Dr. Roz Savage MP, seeks to set new legally binding targets for climate and nature, as well as give the Secretary of State a duty to implement a strategy to achieve these targets.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has worked closely with Government’s old and new to ensure they understand the impact of their environmental and climate policies. Unfortunately, many of these decisions have resulted in increased taxation, lower growth, and have achieved little or nothing for the climate and environment. The Labour Government is therefore correct to take stock and ensure the direction of travel delivers for nature, business, and society.
The following outlines a few examples of where industry warnings were ignored by the Government.
The Treasury’s decision to remove the construction industry’s access to red diesel increased project costs and fuel theft, while also creating new maintenance expenses for the plant hire sector. Three years on, most machinery remains diesel fuelled, with the limited availability of electric plant machinery still to be charged by diesel generators.
DEFRA’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) approach, which is championed as an ‘onsite first policy’ but for most developments cannot be delivered onsite, is creating offsite habitats miles from original development sites. Their strategy also neglects local biodiversity and, if projects can afford the sky-high mitigation costs, means new developments do not build in biodiversity but instead, can create physical barriers within a wildlife corridor. Due to being a statutory requirement, BNG is also reducing levels of affordable housing.
Sticking with DEFRA, Nutrient Neutrality schemes attempt to reduce the pollution entering our waterways, not by targeting the polluters but the new build sector, which in some areas accounts for less than 1% of total pollution. Like BNG, Nutrient Neutrality leads to farming land being taken out of use to provide mitigation credits via habitat creation and in the process reducing the UK’s food security.
In the MHCLG, vital grid investment, such as pylons and substations, continue to be stopped by NIMBY sentiments, while the Government obsesses over the energy efficiency of new homes, despite these new homes accounting for only 1% of stock and already being 65% more efficient than old homes.
These outcomes exist because somebody tried to use policy levers to do the right thing but, in the process, ignores the broader impacts. This consequently damages sustainable environmental and climate improvement, stifles maintainable change, and embeds zero sum outcomes.
Worse still, those businesses, our SMEs, that have historically offered the solutions that many champion, such as building within communities and so reducing car dependency, installing renewable energy solutions within buildings, and working with local communities on nature conservation and access, have been leaving the sector at an alarming rate due to the above and many other policy changes that have made doing business impossible and unprofitable.
While well intentioned, the Climate and Nature Bill (CAN) is a Bill of unexplored and unintended consequences, far eclipsing the policy harms exampled above. The Government is therefore correct to head off CAN and reassess the UK’s role in solving a global challenge, while balancing the many competing domestic needs, from renewable energy and biodiversity to growth and healthy societies.
You May Also Enjoy
Westminster council must outline how their proposals on property boards will not hinder market
Westminster City Council must explain how their proposals to renew the existing Regulation 7 Direction and expand it to the whole borough will not hinder the sales and lettings markets, Propertymark argues. At present, some areas of Westminster are subject to a Regulation 7 Direction, which means consent from the Council is needed to display…
Read More 
National Federation of Builders View on Chancellor’s Speech
At the Autumn Budget 2024, Chancellor Reeves scaled back her interference in the planning process. However, in her speech today, she returned to the position that a well-functioning planning system is crucial to not only enabling growth but, more importantly, sustaining it. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), commented: “The…
Read More 
Landlords and Tenants: A Balanced Relationship in the Private Rental Sector (PRS)
New findings from Leaders Romans Group’s (LRG) latest survey reveal a balanced picture of landlord-tenant relations in the UK. Contrary to negative stereotypes often portrayed, the data shows that tenants view their landlords positively while highlighting areas for improvement in communication and responsiveness. The survey found that 55% of tenants believe their landlord provides quality…
Read More
Government Correct to Head Off Climate and Nature Bill
The ‘Climate and Nature Private Members’ Bill’, brought forward by Dr. Roz Savage MP, seeks to set new legally binding targets for climate and nature, as well as give the Secretary of State a duty to implement a strategy to achieve these targets. The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has worked closely with Government’s old…
Read More 
Property expert issues warning ahead of stamp duty changes – this is how YOU could avoid paying more
New stamp duty rules are set to come in from April which could catch out many homebuyers and leave them paying thousands more than planned. Currently, first-time buyers do not pay any stamp duty on homes costing up to £425,000, while the threshold for other buyers is £250,000. But from 1 April 2025, the threshold…
Read More 
Rightmove Rental Tracker 28/01/25
First drop in rents since pre-pandemic, as supply continues to improve The average advertised rent of properties coming to market outside of London has fallen this quarter for the first-time since pre-pandemic 2019, dropping by 0.2% to £1,341 per calendar month: Rents are still 4.7% higher than this time last year, but this is…
Read More