Recommendation 27

The policy statement on environmental principles, to be prepared under the Environment Bill, ought to be a powerful tool for mainstreaming environmental concerns, including biodiversity, across Government. So the Government’s response to the recommendation of our previous report—arguing that general taxation and spending should be exempt from the statement of environmental principles—was disappointing. We are concerned that the Government’s approach to this issue shows a lack of commitment to the genuine mainstreaming of environmental considerations across all Government departments. (Paragraph 132) 52 The UK’s footprint on global biodiversity