At an event in London this evening Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader and the UK’s first Green MP, will accuse the coalition of reneging on promises to crack down on the trade in illegal timber in the UK.
The event, hosted by WWF UK and the Kingfisher Group, will see the first Green MP confront a minister of the self-proclaimed “greenest government in history” over the latter’s plan to drop US-style legislation that would have cracked down on the trade in illegal timber. The legislation is needed, say the Greens, to cover timber that has been taken illegally but which can currently be traded openly due to a legal loophole.
The Green MP for Brighton Pavilion will point out that:
· Tory shadow cabinet member William Hague said, in a Green Alliance speech in November 2009: “We will introduce new criminal offences under UK law for the import and possession of illegal timber” (1).
· William Hague then added: “There is no reason why it should not be possible to create an offence of selling or distributing imported wood illegally harvested in its country of origin, or, indeed, of importing such wood into the UK. We will legislate to this effect and send a message to the rest of Europe that we are ready to lead on closing the market to illegally harvested timber.”
· In the coalition agreement, just a few months ago, the sentiment was repeated: “Measures to make the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence.”
· But the Green Party leader has recently received a letter from Defra minister Jim Paice, in answer to a question put by the Green MP, to the effect that “we will not be pursuing further UK legislative action at this stage.”
The Green MP wants the UK government to follow the US example, where the Lacey Act has made it illegal for a person or company to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase timber or timber products illegally taken, harvested, possessed, transported, sold or exported (2).
Caroline Lucas said today, ahead of the event:
“This government calls itself the greenest government in history. But it has in fact reneged on a promise to help deal with deforestation, which is one of the iconic green issues of recent decades.
“It’s outrageous that if people manage to get away with illegally harvesting timber the timber can then be bought and sold with impunity in the UK.
“The government must stick to its promise. There is no excuse to do otherwise.”
Caroline Lucas was previously Green Party MEP for South East England and was rapporteur for EU logging legislation. Speaking of her efforts as an MEP, she added:
“We couldn't get agreement on a complete prohibition on all illegally imported timber in the supply chain, so we need UK legislation to close that loophole.”
Notes
3. The event this evening will involve Jim Paice MP (Con, South East Cambridgeshire, minister for agriculture and food), Hilary Benn MP (Lab, Leeds Central) and Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion). It will be held at 1800-1930 at Inn the Park, St James's Park, London SW1A 2BJ. Tel: 020 7451 9999. Fax: 020 7451 9998. Email: info@innthepark.com.