The Impact of Brexit on the Environment: Exploring the Dynamics of a Complex Relationship

Abstract

The departure of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) (often referred to as 'Brexit') is likely to have a significant impact on the environment. In this article I argue against seeing the traffic as all one way. While there was a temptation for the advocates of staying in the EU, in the context of referendum campaigning, to portray the UK as a laggard pressured into positive environmental performance by the EU as leader, the reality is that the UK has also strengthened the EU's environmental policy in some areas and seen its own weakened in others. Influence in both directions has also varied over time. The article goes on to consider core 'Leave' arguments around sovereignty and 'taking back control', exploring the implications of these in the specific context of environmental governance. In discussing subsidiarity, it concludes that leaving the EU will not remove the need for pooling some sovereignty over environmental matters at the international level and, in the context of devolution, at the UK level.