Remit of this group
The Liberal Democrats are fundamentally committed to sustainable development, the principle that in meeting the needs of today we should not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
The last comprehensive policy paper on the natural environment was Strategy for Sustainability (2000), although specific issues have been addressed in subsequent policy motions and papers.
The group will be asked to produce a paper on the Natural Environment of no more than 8,000 words, to go to the Autumn 2009 Party conference. The paper will include both a statement of key principles and specific policy proposals. The group will take into account views expressed at a Consultative Session to be held at the Autumn 2008 Party Conference. The group will have to produce a draft policy paper for FPC consideration in April 2009.
Specific topics the group will need to address include:
- Sustainable use of natural resources: what policies are necessary to begin the move to living within our global environmental footprint?
- Sustainable production and consumption: how can we maximise resource efficiency?
- Waste: how do we achieve near-zero waste?
- Water resources: how do we meet the needs of an increasing population for clean water in the face of the effects of climate change?
- Air quality: what measures are required to further improve air quality?
- Biodiversity and habitat protection: how do we reverse the trend of increasing losses of biodiversity both in the UK and globally?
- The marine environment: what action is needed to tackle issues that include two thirds of global fish stocks being threatened with extinction to increasing damage from pollution?
- Sustainable land use, including sustainable agriculture: with pressures from an increasing population to the rapidly growing demand for biofuels, what new policies are needed to manage land sustainably?
- Public access to the countryside/rivers/sea: are further measures needed to provide public access or protect sensitive areas from damage?
In addressing these issues, the group will have regard to distinctively Liberal Democrat approaches. In particular, it will seek the maximum possible scope for small-scale and community-based policy measures, while recognising that improvements in many of these areas will require concerted action through the EU and in international forums. The group should have regard to the policies on tackling climate change set out in policy paper 82 Zero Carbon Britain.
