Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena
(Picture: Victoria Jones/PA)The climate emergency is facing action from all angles, from protestors to policy, yet not everyone has been united in their goals.
September saw Prime Minister Liz Truss place the crucial role of the secretary of state for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs in the trust of Ranil Jayawardena – and his choices have since been called into question.
On Monday (October 10), the Guardian revealed plans under the new environment secretary to ban solar farms from England’s agricultural lands.
According to their reports, the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade opposed solar panels on farmland through planning rules, as Truss vowed through her election campaign.
So who is the minister who is barring this form of affordable renewable energy?
Who is MP Ranil Jayawardena?
MP Ranil Malcom Jayawardena, 36, was born to Sri Lankan and Indian parents in London.
Spending his early school years in Hampshire, Jayawardena went on to graduate in government from the London School of Economics in 2008.
Although he previously wished to study law, his post-graduate experience veered to finance as he gained experience at the Lloyds Banking Group.
During this time, he worked under MP James Arbuthnot in his now constituency of North East Hampshire. The cabinet member was also involved in lobbying members of the European Parliament on legislation affecting the banking sector.
In 2015, after facing death threats from UKIP electoral candidate Robert Blay, Jayawardena won by the largest margin of any Tory MP in that year’s election.
Speaking to HuffPost, Jayawardena said, that although Blay was suspended, he had received no apology for the threats before the election.
He said: “One thing I was very disappointed about was that UKIP didn’t ever contact me before the election to apologise.
“They said that they apologised via the BBC but they never apologised to me.
“[Blay] was asked by the media at the count, twice I believe, ‘Do you apologise for your remarks?’ and he refused to do so.”
With a varied political career, Jayawardena has held roles including home affairs and International Trade Committee roles, and secretarial duties for the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department for International Trade.
Now, replacing George Eustice, he heads the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is a sworn member of the Privy Council.
What are Ranil Jayawardena’s views on climate change?
In his new role, Jayawardena will oversee policies around environment, water, farming, and nature – although he has no previous experience with these industries.
Furthermore, the MP’s voting record has shown him to vote against preventative measures for climate change consistently.
The MP for North East Hampshire has also recently battled privatised water companies for dumping sewage in UK waters – including in his own constituency.
At the Conservative Party Conference last week, he announced the looming decision to implement a 1,000-fold increase in civil fines for water-company chiefs who do not prevent waste being dumped into open water.
He said: “On my first day in office, I met water-company bosses to give them their report card. I’ll be polite: could do better.
“I asked them to write to me with their plans to accelerate investment in infrastructure. They did and now they must deliver.
“If they don’t deliver, I can confirm to you today that we will take forward plans to lift the Environment Agency’s maximum civil fine for each individual breach of the rules from up to just £250,000, to up to £250 million.”
Legally binding targets for the Tory Party include ending 90 per cent of sewage discharges by 2030 and stronger sanctions for those who fail to comply.
