How can we really protect Britain’s environment?

Well-intentioned laws designed to safeguard nature frequently have the opposite effect The importance of protecting nature is not up for debate. One in six species in Britain is threatened with extinction. Since 1970, more than half our flowering plants have decreased in areas where they once thrived. In the 1950s, Britain’s hedgehog population was 30m strong. Now, it is believed to be under a million. All this demands action. The problem is that a lot of the action we’ve taken – mainly in the form of legislation – fails to target the biggest drivers of nature loss. Instead, it bites when we try to build: wind turbines, solar farms, railways or nuclear power plants, making their construction lengthier, more expensive or, in some cases, impossible. You’ll notice that these are all examples of green infrastructure – precisely the things we’ll need more of in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, which ultimately cause habitat loss on a massive scale. Greening the grid and providing clean electricity to homes, transport and industry is one of the most urgent tasks facing us. The only way to do it without generating a cost of living crisis that would dwarf our current