Recommendation 17

HM Government · verbatim extract Not Addressed

The 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator Framework presents an authoritative way to measure changes to our environment in England. It draws together a comprehensive suite of measures which collectively describe environmental change as it relates to the ten goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan. natural capital outcomes and goals that we have set out to achieve.It has been developed by technical, policy and delivery experts from across government, working with a range of other experts and stakeholders. It builds on the wealth of environmental data collected in England but was designed to remain dynamic in also considering where new sources of data (such as earth observation) might fill in gaps in our knowledge about our changing environment. Earth observation is used by Defra to support innovation and science in policy development and delivery. While still a developing field, it has the potential to transform how our landscape—across England and the UK—is monitored and managed. It has already enabled time and resources to be saved in a number of policy areas, increasing efficiency and exploring new ways to understand our environment. environment and is one of the pillars of our Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) for England, in particular for repeatable measures of the extent of habitat. The NCEA pilot is working across the Defra group to develop a programme that will improve our natural capital, habitat and ecosystem evidence and so inform and evaluate multiple policies. It includes work to produce ‘Living England’, a new comprehensive map of England’s habitats, produced from interpretation of satellite data, which we will be able to update on a regular basis. In the NCEA, earth observation, professional sample survey and citizen science form a strong trinity of mutually supporting data collection approaches which together will tell us the location, extent, condition and change trends of our ecosystems and their natural assets at multiple scales; something that no two approaches alone could do. Other examples of where Defra is actively using earth observation across the UK include rural payment validation; detection of flood risk areas; monitoring fishing activity; and monitoring the change in air pollutant emissions caused by the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Earth Observation Centre of Excellence (EOCoE) was established in 2015 to bring together expertise on such workstreams from across Defra and its agencies. It works closely with the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), UK Space Agency and the Devolved Administrations, as well as Defra’s policy teams to explore future potential for earth observation going forward. As part of the Government’s response to the Dasgupta Review earlier this year, the Government also committed to providing further funding to the Office for National Statistics to improve its natural capital estimates and maximise their policy relevance.