Written statement on Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 - Jan 31

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey): This government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it. Five years ago, the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) set out our vision for a quarter-of-a-century of action to help the natural world regain and retain good health. We said we would refresh the plan every five years, a commitment we set into law in the Environment Act 2021.

Today I am publishing that revised plan: the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23). The 25YEP set out ten complementary goals. This improvement plan sets out the interim targets and our plan to deliver those goals, including measures such as:

• A comprehensive delivery plan to halt the decline in nature by 2030
• A commitment to creating and restoring at least 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitat, with 70 new projects including 25 new or expanded National Nature Reserves
• A new pledge on access to nature with everyone to live no more than a 15 minutes’ walk from a green or blue space
• The Species Survival Fund for domestic species at risk, like the red squirrel
• Five-year interim targets to drive progress towards our long-term targets.

I will look to provide the House with further details shortly.

We also included in the Environment Act a requirement to publish a statement explaining the changes made through our review of the 25YEP.

These changes can be grouped into two themes. These are content updates where scientific understanding and new policy has developed over the last five years; and structural changes that build on the 25YEP.

Content updates:

1. EIP23 brings more specificity to our 25YEP goals by incorporating long-term and interim targets in the four priority areas (air quality, water, biodiversity, and resource efficiency and waste reduction), as required under the Environment Act. Also included are woodland cover and marine targets. These targets will drive environmental long-term improvement to protect and enhance our natural world.
2. The delivery plans for each 25YEP goal incorporate the previously published environmental land management priorities (climate change mitigation and adaptation; species abundance; water quality; and soil health).
3. EIP23 shows how our goals are interconnected, recognising the environment as a system. This includes including cross-cutting themes such as green finance and highlighting how actions in one chapter’s delivery plan drives progress towards other goals’ targets.
4. EIP23 sets our domestic framework in the context of our wider international commitments. The 15th Conference of The Parties to The Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022 (COP15) was an important moment for progress on biodiversity. It was agreed that Parties would update their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) by COP16. EIP23 fulfils that commitment for England in setting out actions we are taking nationally to contribute to our global commitments, with further detailed policy commitments published separately and in discussion with devolved colleagues.
5. EIP23 outlines how driving progress towards the goals will contribute to growth in green jobs, as well as supporting employers across England to create a pipeline of skilled people to fill those jobs. Tree planting, for example, can support job creation and deliver associated economic benefits. Our new target to increase tree canopy and woodland cover to 16.5% of total land area in England is expected to support an additional 1,400 jobs by 2035. This equates to approximately one job being supported for every 5 ha of new woodland creation.

Structural changes:

• Each 25YEP goal has its own chapter and delivery plan in EIP23. Our Environment Act targets are linked into their relevant goal chapter, showing how they have been designed to fill gaps to complement our broader environmental commitments.
• Improving our natural environment requires action from across government and the wider public and private sector. EIP23 provides that strengthened approach to cross-government action by including specific actions and commitments across relevant government departments within the delivery plan for each goal. Implementation will continue to be managed by cross-government governance. Specific roles for the public and private sectors and the general public are also accounted for in delivering environmental improvement.

This revised Plan makes clear what the government wants to achieve; as well as when and how we will achieve it, and how we will measure progress. This sets the direction for action both in the short term and the long term.

Today I am also publishing the final Environmental Principles Policy Statement setting out how the principles are to be interpreted and proportionately applied, as well as the Significant Improvement Test review report, both on gov.uk and laid before Parliament.