Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Evidence is mounting that Brexit, and possible “contagion” of the British exit from the EU, the empowerment of nationalist movements throughout Europe demanding their own exit referenda, is the worst nightmare come true for green groups which had been counting on the bureaucratic authoritarianism of the European Union to bind democratically elected politicians to strong green policies.

Brexit: Environmentalists fear ‘bonfire’ of regulations designed to fight climate change and protect wildlife

Remain campaigners have argued that EU legislation has helped towards tackling water and air pollution, protect endangered species and imposed tough safeguards on the use of genetically modified crops and potentially dangerous chemicals.

Regulations set in place to help fight climate change and protect Britain’s wildlife may be destroyed following the Brexit result, top environmentalists have warned.

Reacting to the vote to leave the European Union, charity groups and climate change campaigners said the result could have a “devastating” effect on the UK environment, since more than 70 per cent of environmental safeguarding comes from European legislation.

Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “Many of the laws that make our drinking and bathing water safe, our air cleaner, our fishing industry more sustainable and our climate safer now hang by a thread… There is a very real fear that Cameron’s successor will come from the school that supports a bonfire of anti-pollution protections.”

Plastic should be considered toxic once it gets into the environment, MPs told

In an post-referendum statement, Friends of the Earth said the group could “no longer rely on the EU to protect our nature and habitats”, adding that clean beaches, air quality and bees were among the factors put at risk by potential loss of EU legislation.