Environmental Principles under the Environment Bill (England)

This will introduce five environmental principles, committing the government to building back greener. These principles are:

• The integration principle is the principle which states that policy-makers should look for opportunities to embed environmental protection in other fields of policy that have impacts on the environment.
• The prevention principle means that government policy should aim to prevent, reduce or mitigate harm.
• The rectification at source principle means that if damage to the environment cannot be prevented it should be tackled at its origin.
• The polluter pays principle is the principle that those who cause pollution or damage to the environment should be responsible for mitigation or compensation.
• The precautionary principle states that where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

For further information, see the Government's consultation webpage.

The Government is consulting on the draft policy statement on the five environmental principles which sets out how they should be interpreted and proportionately applied.