Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 35
35
Paragraph: 156
The 25 Year Environment Plan is not yet supported by clear, ambitious, quantified statutory targets...
Conclusion
The 25 Year Environment Plan is not yet supported by clear, ambitious, quantified statutory targets and milestones. The Environment Bill will provide a statutory underpinning for five of the goals in the Plan, but government has not set long-term objectives for the other five plan areas or how its goals will be met. The current significant improvement test for targets within the Environment Bill is ultimately decided by the Secretary of State. We agree with the Natural Capital Committee that the test is highly subjective.
Paragraph Reference:
156
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
As a core part of our commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it, we have amended the Environment Bill to require a new, historic legally binding target to be set to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 in England. The details of the 2030 species target will be set in secondary legislation, brought forwards by 31 October 2022. The 2030 species target will be subject to the same requirements as the long-term legally binding targets set under the Bill. The 2030 target will sit alongside other targets that will be set under Part 1 of the Environment Bill. Our proposed objectives for biodiversity targets include improving the status of species, restoring habitats and improving the condition of our protected sites on land (we note the Committee’s reference to Biodiversity 2020’s target for at least 50% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest to be in favourable condition by 2020, and underline our 25 Year Environment Plan commitment to restore 75% of protected sites to favourable condition by 2042). The Environment Bill targets will be set following a robust, evidence led process that includes seeking independent expert advice, a role for stakeholders and the public, as well as scrutiny from Parliament. We do not want to prejudge where this process will take us. Interim targets will help the government stay on track and avoid the longer-term targets being considered too far off to worry about. The robust statutory cycle of monitoring, planning and reporting, combined with regular Office for Environmental Protection and Parliamentary scrutiny, ensures that meeting interim targets is taken seriously, without the need for them to be legally binding in and of themselves. The statutory cycle drives short term progress through three key elements: (1) The government must have an Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out the steps it intends to take to improve the environment, and review it at least every 5 years; (2) The government must report on progress towards achieving targets every year; and (3) The OEP will hold us to account on progress towards achieving targets and every year can recommend how we can make better progress. What is critical is that we achieve our long-term targets to deliver significant environmental improvement, and this framework provides strong assurance that we will do so.