The Wildlife Trusts write to Defra about missed Environment Act targets*

The Wildlife Trusts write to Defra about missed Environment Act targets*

The Wildlife Trusts have joined other nature charities in writing to the UK Government about its failure to publish required nature recovery targets by the stipulated deadline of Monday 31st October, as well as highlighting these missed targets to the Office for Environmental Protection.

The Government has broken the law by failing to set the targets – the Secretary of State, Therese Coffey, has acknowledged that Defra is unable to do so despite the fact that the Government has been developing these targets for over three years and has had over four months since the public consultation closed.

These targets were stipulated in the 2021 Environment Act and promised in the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto. They are the legal foundation for nature’s recovery – requiring action to turn the tide of nature’s extreme declines.  Without the targets, the Government also risks missing the legal deadline to publish a new environmental improvement plan.

Draft Government proposals published earlier this year were notably unambitious. They suggested aiming for just 10% more nature in 2042 than 2030 levels, by which time the state of our natural world is expected to have declined even further. This would mean that England will have even less wildlife in 20 years’ time than we do now. 

Craig Bennett

Craig Bennett (c) Trai Anfield

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“The Government rightly trumpeted the Environment Act as a world-leading piece of legislation – so it’s dismal that they’ve fallen at the first hurdle. We need a highly ambitious plan for nature’s recovery on land and at sea as a matter of extreme urgency – without it we cannot tackle the wildlife and climate crisis.

“Powerful, legally-binding environmental targets should provide the long-term certainty needed to drive investment in environmental restoration and ensure that future governments are held accountable for their action on nature. 

“The Government risks major embarrassment if it doesn’t publish the missing targets in time for the global biodiversity conference, COP15, in December. How can this country appear on the world stage to talk about international commitments – such as protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 – if we’ve failed to set targets at home?”

The Wildlife Trusts are calling for:

  • A stronger species abundance target.  A proposed target to increase the abundance of wildlife by 10% by 2042 compared to 2030 levels is far too weak and uncertain. Instead, the Government should set a target to increase the abundance of marine and terrestrial species by at least 20% by 2042 compared to 2022 levels.
  • A target for the condition of protected wildlife sites. The extent and quality of habitats are crucial for nature’s recovery. At the moment, just 38% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England are in favourable condition, despite being some of the most precious places for wildlife. Yet the Government has not proposed a statutory target to improve the state of protected sites, despite its commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to ensure three quarters are in good condition.
  • An overall target for improving water. Pollution from agriculture, sewage, roads and plastics is destroying freshwater habitats and making our rivers dangerous for both humans and wildlife. Currently, river basin plans set out how to improve our waters with many targets set for 2027, but if Retained EU Law is revoked, these will have little influence. The Government should set a long-term target for at least 75% of rivers, streams and other freshwater bodies to reach an overall “clean waters” status by 2042.

 

*The original headline of this press release read: ‘The Wildlife Trusts call on Office for Environmental Protection to investigate the Government’s missed Environment Act targets’. This has since been amended to ‘The Wildlife Trusts write to Defra about missed Environment Act targets’ because writing to Defra is the first step in making a complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection. The OEP has been notified of The Wildlife Trusts’ complaint to Defra and is awaiting Defra’s response.

Editor’s notes

The Wildlife Trusts’ briefing on the Nature Recovery Green Paper and Environment Act targets consultations, May 2022, here.

Defra’s Update on progress on Environmental Targets, published on Friday 28th October, is here.

Environment Act

The Environment Act 2021 was a landmark. For the first time, there was a requirement to set legally binding targets for nature’s recovery. These long-term, legally binding targets are the centrepiece of the Environment Act 2021’s framework for restoring nature. The Environment Act 2021 requires the Defra Secretary of State to set at least one long-term (at least 15 years), legally-binding target for each of the following four priority areas: air quality, water, biodiversity, and resource efficiency & waste reduction. The Environment Act also sets a target to halt the decline in the abundance of species that must be met by 31 December 2030.  This target is in addition to the need for a long-term biodiversity target. The Environment Act also requires that the regulations setting each target – including the species abundance target – should be laid before Parliament on or before 31 October 2022.

Complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection

As the draft statutory instrument has not been laid before Parliament on or before 31 October 2022, The Wildlife Trusts, along with other charities such as Wildlife & Countryside Link, are calling for The Office for Environmental Protection (The OEP) to investigate. The OEP was legally created under the Environment Act 2021.  It has a mission to “protect and improve the environment by holding Government and public authorities to account[1].  One of the powers and duties of the OEP is to enforce against failures to comply with environmental law including commencing legal proceedings when needed.  Anyone can submit a complaint to the OEP if they think a public authority – including Government departments and ministers – has broken environmental law. 

Environmental Improvement Plan

In addition to the long-term, legally binding targets, the Environment Act also requires that at least one interim target is set for the four priority areas and that these must be included in the first review of the first Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan – published in January 2018 - is now considered to be the first Environmental Improvement Plan. The Environment Act 2021 legally requires that the EIP is reviewed and revised every five years. That means that by 31 January 2023, the Government needs to publish a revised EIP that also includes the required interim targets.  However, interim targets and milestones cannot be set in the absence of the long-term targets. 

The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trusts are making the world wilder and helping to ensure that nature is part of everyone’s lives. We are a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 870,000 members and 38,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of our members, we care for and restore special places for nature on land and run marine conservation projects and collect vital data on the state of our seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year.

 

[1] https://www.theoep.org.uk/office-environmental-protection