According to a recent poll, two thirds of IEMA’s UK membership believe that there would be a reduction or complete removal of the influence environmental matters have in infrastructure decision making.
81% of the poll’s respondents said that European laws and regulations provide a vital framework to deliver environmental protection and improvements, while 60% believe that there will be a lower level of legal protection for wildlife and habitats should the UK decide to leave the EU.
Of the 1,200 respondents, around half said that opportunities for the public to engage in the decision making process on how new infrastructure proposals would affect them would be reduced outside the EU. According to the poll, 43% think that current engagement processes would be retained, while only 7% said they thought is would be enhanced outside the EU.
Tellingly, the majority of IEMA’s UK members (93%) believe that efforts to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity in the UK are best addressed within or aligned to EU policy frameworks.
