The UK Labour party, following its election victory, must take steps to allow the private sector to engage with the nutrient neutrality scheme, said an expert whose company has had to halt around 15 such schemes due to uncertainty.
Labour secured a resounding victory in the general election on Thursday, marking a significant shift in the country’s political landscape and consequences for nature policy.
The party’s win should improve certainty on nutrient neutrality policy in future, following the ousting of their Conservative opponents, said Jack Potter, head of biodiversity net gain and nutrient neutrality at project developer Wild Capital.
Labour said it would follow through with the nutrient policy “without weakening environmental protections” in its manifesto, while the Conservatives had said they would “abolish the legacy EU” rules, as Potter pointed out in a post on LinkedIn.
“[Labour] have quite clearly stated that they’re not going to undermine existing legislation. They’ve committed to unblocking homes, they’re going to do something about it,” he told Carbon Pulse.
“The whole thing is an absolute mess. Developers have been stuck in limbo since 2018 pretty much, where we just don’t know what’s happening from one day to the next, it’s just so volatile. What it needs is certainty. The sooner they tell us what they’re going to do, the better.”
Developers must purchase nutrient credits to offset pollution from new buildings, but a planning backlog led to claims the scheme was blocking the construction of 100,000 homes in 2023.
Private investors have been put off engaging with the scheme by lack of clear direction from the government, inefficient local authorities, and public agency Natural England saying it does not have capacity to advise on implementation, said Potter, who is also chair of the Nutrient Neutrality Forum.
One nutrient credit represents 1kg of nitrogen or phosphate mitigated through practices such as developing wetlands or halting agricultural activity.
Landowners can stack them with off-site biodiversity net gain units generated from the same plot of land, according to government guidance.
WETLANDS SCRAPPED
Wild Capital has had to scrap 15 wetland-based nutrient neutrality schemes across the UK, of around three hectares each, because the company believed it would take too long to get paid, he said.
“We had three wetlands planned in Teesmouth. We had eight wetlands planned in Norfolk. We had another two planned in Scotland, another two in Cornwall, all of these schemes just stopped.”
However, Wild Capital has two nutrient neutrality schemes actively under development after buying land.
These schemes, in England’s Wiltshire and Nunthorpe, aim to sell 2,960 kg and 418 kg of nitrogen respectively over time for between £3,000 and £3,500 per kg.
“[Wetlands] are the jewels in the crown of our environment, internationally important wildlife sites, which are completely knackered because there are too many nutrients in them.”
CLIFF EDGE
Nutrient neutrality has been surrounded by questions since it began, creating a “cliff edge” of uncertainty, Potter said.
Although one major uncertainty has been overcome by the Conservatives defeat, significant questions remain over local decisions, he said.
Some local authorities have received government money to develop their own nutrient neutrality schemes, leaving no room for a private market, he said.
“They just need to be more considered about where they pump money into. That money is absolutely needed, but there’s so many things that are wrong with the system.”
Instead, the capital should go towards Natural England’s capacity to advise on nutrient neutrality schemes, he said.
“If I were Labour, I’d be injecting that cash into making a smooth, efficient system in the government for Natural England and local authorities, getting advice out there – not on delivering schemes, which the private sector are perfectly happy to do.”
By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com
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