Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 105:"Page 2, line 4, after ““to”” insert—" ““(a)””    The noble Duke said: In moving Amendment No. 105, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 108. I hope that the noble Lord will consider them because in some ways they may be drafting suggestions. The amendments focus on the first subsection of the clause by effectively removing the word ““thereby””. At the moment, Clause 2(2) reads that Natural England’s general purpose is mainly to,"““ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations””." We then read that ““thereby”” Natural England will be,"““contributing to sustainable development””." I note that we have received a briefing from the triumvirate of the three government departments, which do not wish to be required to deliver sustainable development. I was going to call the three departments the ““parents”” of Natural England but I realise that it is not very natural to have three parents. There is a danger that with the present wording it will look as though ““sustainable development”” has been added as an afterthought. Nowhere does the Bill describe exactly what it means to ““conserve”” and ““enhance”” the natural environment. Grammatically, it reads as though sustainable development can be contributed to only through conservation, enhancement and management. Of course, development is not sustainable if it does not benefit the natural environment at the same time, but this wording suggests that sustainable development is something that can be accumulated over time. Sustainable development is distinct from conservation, enhancement and management. That same briefing that we received states:"““Sustainable development cannot be delivered by any one body or government department. It is a concept which ranges from the global to the local covering all sectors of society—local communities, business, government and individuals””." Sustainable development is not an issue that would give rise to conflict. It is a way of describing the results of the very best practice across the board, so surely it should be presented with equal weighting to the other descriptive terms that apply to Natural England. I beg to move.