Proposed legislation includes rules intended to stop import of goods from areas of deforested land
The government has delayed the long-awaited environment bill, the biggest shake-up of green regulation in decades which redraws rules following the UK’s departure from the EU, provoking fury from campaigners who said it would harm action on air pollution and water quality, as well as other key issues.
Ministers said the delay, which will mean the flagship bill is unlikely to pass before the autumn, was necessary because dealing with the Covid-19 crisis left too little parliamentary time for debate. Trying to continue with the original timetable would have risked the bill falling and having to return to square one of the parliamentary process.
