A Clean Bill of Health?

GOVERNMENT AMENDS ENVIRONMENT BILL TO HALT BIODIVERSITY LOSS

The government has today (27th August 2021) announced a wave of amendments to its long-awaited Environment Bill, expected to be passed in the Autumn, which include a new legally binding target to "halt the decline in species abundance by 2030".

The changes, issued by Defra, following work with parliamentarians and wider stakeholders would, if passed, support the development of new Local Nature Recovery Strategies for strengthening biodiversity, curb water pollution and safeguard the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

The government said it recognises the clear need for action and these new amendments reflect the Prime Minister's pledges at G7 when the inter-governmental forum committed to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and signed up to the global '30x30' initiative. (To conserve or protect at least 30% of the world's land and at least 30% of the world's oceans by 2030). The aim of the UK Environment Bill is to halt species loss for all declining populations, including hedgehogs, red squirrels, water voles and certain kinds of bat.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "The Environment Bill is at the vanguard of our work to implement the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth."

"We have been clear about the need, and our intention, to halt the decline of our natural environment, and so we are strengthening our world-leading target to put this beyond doubt. It will be a challenging task, but halting this decline is a crucial part of our commitment to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state."

He added, "Our new package of measures on storm overflows will help crack down on the pollution in our rivers, waterways and coastlines, to better tackle the harm that they cause."

The new amendments also introduce new guidance for local planning authorities to explain how they should take into account new Local Nature Recovery Strategies which are designed to drive the recovery of natural landscape and wildlife by creating frameworks for local areas to use to prioritise certain solutions and map new proposals. The Strategies will form part of the national Nature Recovery Network, which plans to create or restore 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitat outside protected sites.

The amendments follow a lengthy campaign from environmental groups and green businesses, which have long argued that key measures within the Environment Bill were not sufficiently robust and could result in a post-Brexit watering down of some environmental protection. Today's announcement will support the delivery of the 25 Year Environment Plan and is part of the Government's commitment to tackle the twin threat of biodiversity loss and climate change.

Conservative Environment Network today welcomed the new biodiversity targets as a major step forward, but Is it fit for purpose and equipped to stand the test of time? Only time will tell.

Footnote:

The full amendments can be found on the Parliament website here.