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Closed Add Environmental Conservation to the national curriculum for all schools

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The Government should act to enhance the national curriculum at all stages in schools to include rigorous instruction in environmental and ecological conservation and sciences. Ensure these are promoted with at least equal weight to that afforded to matters such as economic and financial activity.

After the declaration of Climate Emergency on 1 May 2019 by the House of Commons, there remains a lack of understanding among decision makers and the general public about the importance of these issues. There is a misplaced notion that environmentalism is either optional or a hindrance in the face of economic activity and development. For the undertakings made by the Government to be meaningful then these misconceptions in society must be changed on a fundamental level and from the youngest age.

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  • Related activity

    UK biodiversity report published by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee

    The Environmental Audit Committee has published its report on 'Biodiversity in the UK: bloom or bust', which calls for the Government to conserve and restore UK biodiversity and ecosystems.
     
    The report is published amid grave concern that of the G7 countries, the UK has the lowest level of biodiversity remaining.
     
    The MPs on the Committee found that existing Government policy and targets were inadequate to address plummeting biodiversity loss. This is made worse by nature policy not being joined up across Government, nor is nature protection consistently factored into policy making.
     
    Some key recommendations made by the Committee include:
    - The Government must establish a timetable to put management plans and monitoring in place for all Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), with different categories of destructive bottom trawling banned or restricted. More MPAs should be established as 'no-take' zones
    - In the next Spending Review, greater funding must be given to Natural England which reflects its responsibilities and tasks.
    - The Government should commission a review identifying and tracking public expenditure harmful to biodiversity. Once identified, Ministers must act to remove harmful subsidies and re-direct money to nature conservation and recovery.
    - Tree planting should not occur on peat soils
    - Education on biodiversity must increase: a Natural History GCSE should be introduced and investment in skills should be increased for chartered ecology and associated disciplines.
     
    Read an interactive summary of the report:
    https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/uk-biodiversity-bloom-or-bust/index.html
     

    What happens next?

    The Government now must respond to the Committee's report, which was published on 30 June 2021, within two months. The Committee will publish the Government’s response here: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/62/environmental-audit-committee/
     

    What is the Environmental Audit Committee?

    The Environmental Audit Committee is a cross-party group of non-Government MPs who look into how Government policies and departments contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development.
      
    Follow the Committee on Twitter for updates on its work:
    https://twitter.com/CommonsEAC
     
    The Environmental Audit Committee is a select committee. Find out how Select Committees work:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c

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    This petition will stay open until 10 September 2020.