CIEEM has published a position statement on the REUL Bill.

Our central point is that there is not the capacity nor time to review, replace or update environmental legislation adequately and the unintended consequences of rushed and/or poor implementation of the Bill will undermine the Government’s stated ambition for the natural environment and the other consequences identified in the paper.

The legislation that we do have, and that may now be threatened by this Bill, hasn’t prevented the destruction and degradation of the natural world, with huge consequences. The notion that we could lose or weaken what legislation we have and perform better is ludicrous. We need stronger and better legislation not less. That takes time and professional input. We believe there are areas of the legislation that could be improved but that opportunity could be squandered if rushed. The impacts on the economy of uncertainty within the UK, but also for developers and investors, would be disruptive and slow economic growth.