Legally binding targets to
protect our environment, clean up our air and rivers and boost
nature have been published today (Friday 16th December) following
extensive consultation as part of the government’s commitment to
leave the environment in a better state for future
generations.
Together they will drive
forward action to tackle climate change, restore our natural
capital and protect our much-loved landscapes and green
spaces.
The Government will publish its
Environmental Improvement Plan in January 2023 setting out in
more detail how we will achieve these targets, including interim
targets
Publication of the targets
today follows three years of detailed consideration of the
scientific and economic evidence, which was published in March
2022, to inform draft targets. A comprehensive consultation on
these was run earlier this year which saw over 180,000 responses
from a range of individuals, businesses and other
organisations.
Sitting at the heart of the
government’s Environment Act, the
targets require us to:
- Halt the decline in species populations by 2030, and then
increase populations by at least 10% to exceed current levels by
2042
- Restore precious water bodies to their natural state by
cracking down on harmful pollution from sewers and abandoned
mines and improving water usage in households
- Deliver our net zero ambitions and boost nature recovery by
increasing tree and woodland cover to 16.5% of total land area in
England by 2050
- Halve the waste per person that is sent to residual treatment
by 2042
- Cut exposure to the most harmful air pollutant to human
health – PM2.5
- Restore 70% of designated features in our Marine Protected
Areas to a favourable condition by 2042, with the rest in a
recovering condition.
Our world-leading target to
halt the decline in species abundance will be followed by a
target to reverse that decline, alongside a further target to
reduce the risk of species extinction. This will be supported by
our target to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of
wildlife-rich habitat, which will also help the UK to meet its
international commitment to protect 30% of its land and ocean by
2030.
Targets to cut harmful
pollution reaching our rivers will help achieve our ambition for
more water bodies to be in their natural state, with a 80% cut in
total phosphorus pollution from wastewater treatments by 2038
helping to safeguard our waterways.
Environment Secretary
Thérèse Coffey, speaking at the UN Convention in Montreal today,
said:
“We are committed to leaving
our natural world in a better state for future generations, and
today we are laying the foundations that will help deliver on
this commitment.
“These targets are ambitious
and will be challenging to achieve – but they will drive our
efforts to restore our natural environment, protect our
much-loved landscapes and green spaces and marine environment, as
well as help tackle climate change.”
Marian Spain, chief
executive of Natural England, said:
“The message is clear: without
the ambitious targets to tackle climate change and reverse the
long-term decline in Nature, we
will be unable to sustain the ecosystems on which we rely for our health and our
prosperity.
“We
therefore welcome today’s
publication of the statutory targets needed to put Nature recovery at the heart
of the government’s priorities. With the first targets only
eight years away, we
are already working with the
government and with businesses, land
managers and environmental charities through the Nature
Recovery Network Partnership to ensure that we are on track to turn around England’s loss of
nature and deliver the ambitions set out in the 25 Year
Environment Plan.”
The UK is an international
leader on the environment and nature. We have created or restored
plant and wildlife habitats the size of Dorset, we are investing
more than £750 million in the environment through our Nature for
Climate Fund, and we have established a network of marine
protected areas across 130,000 square miles of English waters.
But we want and need to do more, as these targets
demonstrate.
Under the UK’s Climate COP
Presidency, 145 countries – representing over 90% of the world’s
forests – signed a pledge to halt deforestation and land
degradation by 2030.
The announcement comes as
environment ministers participate in the high level segment
of COP15 in Montreal to agree an ambitious Global
Biodiversity Framework. Countries like the UK are seeking to
build support for the adoption of a robust framework including
the target to protect 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030.
Yesterday the UK announced its participation in the Donor Joint
Statement which commits billions of new finance annually from
international donors to close the nature finance gap.
A Written Ministerial Statement
has been laid in the House of Lords, which can be read
here.
