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Regulation is needed to protect the environment because economic markets inevitably fail to take account of costs to the environment caused by pollution and other environmental harm.
The government has made numerous commitments to strengthen environmental protection on leaving the EU in order to deliver a “Green Brexit”. The UK is also obliged to apply the internationally recognised environmental principles under the Environment Act 2021 and the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The regulatory framework relating to pollution from agriculture could be strengthened in several ways. These include filling in gaps in the existing regulatory framework (for example, concerning ammonia emissions and protecting soil health) and adopting a more integrated economy-wide approach to the control of nitrogen pollution. The control of pesticides could also be improved by ensuring that the regulatory framework is more transparent and makes better use of the environmental principles and the latest scientific knowledge.