Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 6
6
We recommend that the Government introduce, preferably via the Environment Bill currently before Parliament, a...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government introduce, preferably via the Environment Bill currently before Parliament, a mechanism for statutory interim targets to ensure that its proposed species abundance target is met to halt the decline of nature by 2030. We further recommend that the scope of the proposed 2030 target be extended to encompass legally binding outcome measures on species distribution, extinction risk, habitat extent and condition: it must also reinstate the expired target for Sites of Special Scientific Interest. (Paragraph 61) Biodiversity in the UK: bloom or bust? 115
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
In formulating this recommendation, the EAC considered other indicators and metrics on biodiversity and wider natural capital beyond the information provided in the Environmental Accounts. We have therefore taken a consistent interpretation in our response. In England, through the Environment Bill, the government is introducing a statutory cycle of monitoring, planning and reporting on Environmental Improvement Plans (EIPs). The cycle comprises annual reports by government to Parliament on progress, regular scrutiny by the Office for Environmental Protection, and five-yearly reviews of the EIP. The OEP will scrutinise the government’s annual report, and may recommend how progress could be improved, to which government must respond. The Outcome Indicator Framework provides one method of reporting on the progress of the EIP. The Framework presents an authoritative way to measure changes to our environment. It draws together a comprehensive suite of measures which collectively describe environmental change as it relates to the ten goals of the 25 YEP (which will become the first EIP). The framework was developed using the concept of natural capital. It focuses on the natural capital outcomes and goals that we have set out to achieve, grouped as: (1) Reducing pressures on natural capital assets (e.g. pollution or plant disease); (2) Improving the state of natural capital assets (including air, water, land and seas); and (3) Increasing the benefits that we get from those assets.