Queen's Speech: Environment Bill, skills, and net zero set to be at heart of legislative agenda

The government will today set out its legislative agenda for the coming Parliament with the Queen's Speech expected to showcase the UK's net zero goals and preparations for the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow this autumn.

Number 10 signalled over the weekend that the speech would focus on driving the recovery from the pandemic, 'levelling up' the UK's regions, and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 so as to deliver "a cleaner, greener UK".

It also confirmed that the speech would bring forward the Environment Bill, which was controversially delayed during the last Parliamentary session and is not expected to pass until the autumn. Number 10 said the Environment Bill would "set legally binding environmental targets, and cement the UK's leadership on climate change, as we host the international COP26 Summit in Glasgow later this year".

Green business groups and environmental campaigners are continuing to call on the government to strengthen the draft legislation to cement the independence of the new Office for Environmental Protection and ensure a number of crucial post-Brexit environmental regulations are not watered down.

"The Environment Bill must return to Parliament at pace to ensure that the UK establishes an ambitious environmental governance regime which will help reverse the decline of the natural environment," said Nick Molho, executive director at the Aldersgate Group of businesses. "The Bill itself should also be strengthened through the introduction of binding interim targets that ensure continuous action to improve nature, the inclusion of an overarching target which helps guide long-term targets, and guarantees to safeguard the Office for Environmental Protection's independence."

Business groups are also keen to see the government use the set piece opening of Parliament to provide a clearer steer on its net zero transition plans, with businesses and investors stepping up calls for Ministers to deliver the long-awaited new net zero strategy.

"A clear funding strategy from Treasury and a policy programme focused on delivering the UK's net zero target must also be priorities in the forthcoming parliamentary session," Molho added. "The highly anticipated net zero strategy needs to set out a detailed cross-sector plan across all government departments of what measures will be required in the near future. It must provide a sector-by-sector analysis and ensure that the government's economic and industrial policy, as well as its infrastructure spending decisions, are all fully aligned with this target."

The Queen's Speech should also advance plans for a major overhaul of the UK's adult education system, which could help address growing fears that green industries could face a skills crunch in the coming years.

A new Lifetime Skills Guarantee will form a central part of the Speech, which will propose new laws to create a post-16 and adult education and training system that should improve access to education and training for people in all phases of their life.

Specifically, the government said it would transform the current student loans system to give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training at university or college, useable at any point in their lives. Moreover, employers will have a new statutory role in planning publicly-funded training programmes with education providers.

"These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "We know that having the right skills and training is the route to better, well-paid jobs. I'm revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives."

The moves are likely to be welcomed by green business groups, which have repeatedly warned the net zero transition could be hampered by skills shortages as the burgeoning renewables, waste, and construction industries seek to hire tens of thousands of skilled workers to deliver low carbon infrastructure projects.

However, proposals for fresh reforms to the planning system to help accelerate the development of housing projects are likely to spark a more critical response from green groups, who have warned the proposals could unleash a surge in new fast-tracked developments that fail to adequately consider environmental impacts and promote green building best practices.