The UK government has announced its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, which outlines its vision to restore nature, improve environmental quality, and increase prosperity in the country.
The plan, which was unveiled by Environment Secretary Dr Thérèse Coffey at a keynote speech, builds on the 25 Year Environment Plan and includes new powers and duties from the Environment Act, Agriculture Act, and Fisheries Act. The government’s aim is to halt and reverse the decline of nature, which was the central target agreed at the UN Nature Summit COP15 in December.
The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 covers a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving the UK’s environment, including the creation and restoration of at least 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitats through 70 new projects, providing a clean and plentiful supply of water, challenging councils to improve air quality, transforming the management of 70% of the countryside, and boosting green growth and creating new jobs. The public will also benefit from new commitments, such as access to green spaces or water within a 15-minute walk from their home.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “Protecting our natural environment is fundamental to the health, economy, and prosperity of our country. This plan provides the blueprint for how we will deliver our commitment to leave our environment in a better state than we found it.”
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey added, “Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will continue to improve our environment here in the UK and around the world. Nature is vital for our survival, crucial to our food security, clean air, and clean water, as well as health and well-being benefits.”
Other commitments announced in the plan include a multi-million pound Species Survival Fund to protect rare species, nature-friendly farming practices on at least 10 to 15% of land by 2030, 10 actions to improve water efficiency, reducing ammonia emissions, and reducing waste through interim targets. The plan also sets out a clear framework to ensure progress can be tracked and includes a policy statement that will embed environmental protection and enhancement into the design and development of new policy across the government.
Tony Juniper, the Chair of Natural England, said, “We are facing into a series of environmental challenges that are very serious, pressing, and which are connected to one another. If we are to take effective action then we will need an ambitious and integrated plan that is geared up to meeting some very challenging targets. That plan and those targets are now live. The package is broad and most welcome and important. It will now require efforts across government and across society to translate its intent into action.”
The new commitments set out include:
Nature:
- A multi-million pound Species Survival Fund to protect our rarest species – from hedgehogs to red squirrels.
- Through the support of government schemes 65 to 80% of landowners and farmers will adopt nature friendly farming practices on at least 10 to 15% of their land by 2030. They will also be supported to create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2037 and 45,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2050.
Water:
- Setting out 10 actions we are taking on water efficiency in new developments and retrofits, including reviewing building regulations and other legislation to address leaky loos and confusing dual flush buttons and to enable new water efficient technologies
- Restoring 400 miles of river through the first round of Landscape Recovery projects and establishing 3,000 hectares of new woodlands along England’s rivers.
- Reforming the current regulatory framework to rationalise the number of regulatory plans and create a more efficient system which better enables joined up working to achieve catchment-level outcomes
Air:
- Challenging councils to improve air quality more quickly by assessing their performance and use of existing powers, while supporting them with clear guidance, funding, and tools.
- Reducing ammonia emissions through incentives in our new farming schemes, while considering expanding environmental permitting condition to dairy and intensive beef farms.
- Improving the way air quality information is communicated with the public.
Waste:
- Making it easier for people to do the right thing to minimise their waste, including a new set of interim targets for 2028 to reduce different types of waste, including plastic, glass, metal, paper, and food.
Photo by Mert Guller on Unsplash
