UK manufacturers to government: Green burden and environment legislation is out of control
An overwhelming majority of British manufacturers want the government to scrap environmental legislation, according to a new report out today from the EEF.
The report found that seven in 10 manufacturers said eliminating so-called “green” red tape is important to their business.
Four in 10 said that the government had not done enough to deregulate.
EEF chief executive Terry Scuoler said:
“Manufacturers remain committed to addressing environmental and climate concerns, but are still having to wade through unnecessary levels of complexity and red tape in order to do so, which in too many cases is holding them back.”
But government departments are defending their efforts. A Defra spokesperson said:
“Our work to cut red tape is reducing unnecessary bureaucracy to meet the needs of business while minimising the effect on the environment.”
A BIS spokesperson echoed Defra’s comments, saying:
“We encourage any business that has issues with specific regulations and the way they are enforced to tell us more about them.”
Last week, Denmark announced plans to scale back its green ambitions after the country’s government said the previous target was “too expensive for businesses”.
Denmark had promised to reduce its carbon emissions at least 40 per cent by 2020 but cut this target to 37 per cent.