Government wasted time and money signing up to a charter it chose to ignore, Southampton West Central MP Charlie Swan told the House of Assembly.Mr Swan took issue with Environment Minister Marc Bean’s position that the UK Environment Charter was only intended as an “aspirational” document.Mr Bean had responded angrily to Ombudsman Arlene Brock’s claim Government acted illegally by disregarding the charter’s guideline to carry out an environmental impact assessment before granting a Sustainable Development Order for the Tucker’s Point project.But Mr Swan told MPs: “I put it to this House that respect we seek is earned, not by signing agreements but by abiding by them.”The United Bermuda Party MP was speaking on Friday evening to launch a motion on the Ombudsman’s report into the Tucker’s Point redevelopment controversy.Mr Swan likened the signing of the charter to Premier Paula Cox’s signing of a host of Tax Information Exchange Agreements with other jurisdictions.“Are we serious about these commitments to do with our Island environment” he asked.“Are we serious about TIEAs? Do we expect signatories to be serious about the commitments they sign on to in these TIEAs?“Do actions speak louder than words? Should we not only be seen to be doing right the right things, but also actually do the right things?”Mr Swan said civil servants are employed to obtain relevant information and advise the Minister, while signed agreements should form a part of Bermuda’s policies.He continued: “It makes no sense whatsoever, in my humble opinion, to expend resources on signing onto agreements, if one’s only intention is to continue to aspire to abide by them.“We must also respect those covenants which we know within our hearts to be right and those which we sign on to. After all, we are as a group in this place for all Bermudians.”Mr Bean was next to speak in the debate, repeating his stance that Government had not acted illegally by failing to abide by the UK Environment Charter.However, he said, in future, environmental impact assessments will be carried out before SDOs are brought to the House of Assembly.Responding to Mr Swan’s claims that Bermuda has seen too much development, Mr Bean said more building is an inevitable consequence of advanced civilisation.He declared to continue making SDOs a priority if it means Bermuda will benefit from further development, and he claimed some people seem more interested in caring for the environment than for their fellow man.UBP leader Kim Swan argued Bermuda needs an Environment Minister who will protect the environment instead of “bulldozing through an SDO if necessary”.Mr Swan said much of Bermuda’s appeal as a tourism destination is its natural beauty, which is at risk if overdevelopment continues.He said he believed former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith had signed the Environment Charter with the intention of following its spirit, regardless of whether it is law.“Why are we spending the money to go away and sign these charters and tell everyone how important they are, if we are not going to follow them?” asked the St George’s West MP.“And that is the tragedy of this Country.”Former Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons said the debate wouldn’t have been necessary if Government had given its reason for not making an environmental impact study.Mr Simons accused Government of taking short cuts for commercial gain, adding: “We can talk about legalities, but what about honesty and principled decisions about the environment?”