CIEH highlights the essential role of environmental health professionals in meeting Green Party manifesto commitments

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) welcomes the Green Party manifesto commitment to ‘invest an additional £5bn in local authorities to enable their key role in the transition to a green economy’, alongside the wider ‘£12.4bn investment in skills and training for the green workforce’.

This commitment echoes CIEH’s manifesto ask to guarantee ring-fenced funding for Environmental Health apprentices and trainees and our repeated calls to address ongoing capacity and capability issues within local authorities. CIEH have consistently championed environmental health professionals as providing expertise and skills in tackling climate change due to their roles existing at the crux of the environment and health. If elected, CIEH urge the Greens to utilise this investment to ensure the sufficient funding of upskilling and reskilling in all routes into the Environmental Health profession.

CIEH urge the Green Party to work with us and our members to develop strategies to boost the green economy. Environmental health professionals are part of the existing and future green workforce; bringing significant wisdom and expertise to an expanding issue. CIEH members will be core in enforcing any environmental health related policies laid out in the Green Party manifesto including The Clean Air Act. The Green Party’s commitments to both the ‘Clean Air Act’ and ‘Climate and Nature Act’ align with CIEH’s continuous calls for a holistic and ambitious approach to tackling air pollution that meet the World Health Organization's guidelines.

The Green Party manifesto made several commitments that align with CIEH manifesto asks. Housing as an issue featured visibly throughout the manifesto, with a welcomed commitment to introduce more ambitious energy standards by 2030. Furthermore, the commitments to introduce policies that tackle food waste coordinates with our ask to half food loss and waste by 2030. CIEH welcome the inclusion of tackling the dumping of sewage into UK waterways, this echoes our manifesto ask for the Government to prioritise addressing water pollution by investing in the UK’s sewage treatment and drainage infrastructure as well as taking tougher action against water companies in the form of fines and criminal sanctions.

Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at CIEH, said:

“The capacity and capability of the environmental health workforce is our number one priority and is a fundamental part of our CIEH Manifesto for environmental health 2024. We have been steadfast in our advocacy for environmental health professionals to be recognised as a key voice in the development of the green workforce.

Environmental health professionals enforce many of the policies that protect our planet and our health today and will continue to do so into a growing future green skills sector. CIEH welcome Green Party commitments to resource local authorities and urge them to include all pathways into the environmental profession in their funding for skills and training.

We continue to call on all political parties to commit to supporting environmental health and the policies in our manifesto.”