Will Sustainability feature in the UK General Election?
So, first half day back at work (I’m semi-childminding) and UK PM Theresa May goes and calls a General Election. In some ways not a surprise with the official opposition AWOL, but quite a gamble nonetheless.
And it’s a gamble because the campaign will be dominated by one issue and one alone: Brexit. Mrs May wants a mandate to do what she’s not really keen on doing, Labour is trying to ride both horses at once and the pro-European Lib Dems are still crawling their way back into contention after their 2015 near-wipeout [Disclosure: I’m a Lib Dem Councillor]. Who knows how this will pan out, but it will be fascinating.
So, will Sustainability feature? Brexit has huge implications for environmental regulation and the Government’s Great Repeal Bill, as it stands, could be a big threat to our current environmental regulation, most of which takes its cue from EU Directives. But I don’t think The Environment will change many votes because, frankly, most mainstream environmentalists tend to be Remainers and the hard Brexiteers tend towards climate disinterest at best.
But I come back to a point I’ve been making for a long time. Regulation helps tilt the playing field towards a sustainable economy, but if big business decides it wants to be sustainable, Sustainability will happen whether we are in or out of the EU, whether we have a green-leaning Government or not.
As a consumer, you make a choice every time you open your wallet or click ‘Buy Now’. As an employee, you can make greener decisions at work, whether it is switching off a light or redesigning a new product. Of course as a voter, you can back your greenest candidate – but the first two you can do every day and that’s what really matters.