(c) martin-reisch via unsplash
This is the final of a series of blog posts covering our asks in several environmental areas of the 25 Year Environment Plan. This blog was written by Jess Chappell - Senior Policy Officer in England and lead on our local government policy work - and focuses on the role of local government in delivering the ambition of the 25 YEP.
Many ambitious local leaders are already making significant progress in delivering the commitments of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Our local authorities must be given the powers and funding they need to deliver their part.
Throughout this blog series we’ve heard a lot about what we want to see from Westminster Government as they approach the 25 Year Environment Plan refresh in January 2023.
Action to restore nature and tackle the climate crisis in England undoubtedly needs national leadership and direction from Westminster in the form of ambitious goals in a refreshed 25 YEP Plan. These goals must be tied to coherent and measurable targets and accompanied by a clear plan for turning ambition into delivery on the ground.
However, our local government leaders – councils and directly elected mayors of cities and combined authorities - also have a responsibility to protect and enhance the environment for future generations, and an important role to play in the delivery of the 25YEP. They, after all, are the ones who can use their local knowledge to ensure that the right actions happen in the right place and involve local communities.
Local delivery requires local knowledge
As my colleague Meera explained in the first blog in the series, a number of promising policies have resulted from the commitments made in the 25YEP. Many of which have since become law following the passing of the Environment Act last year, and which place responsibilities on local authorities for delivery.
For example, biodiversity net gain – a requirement on developers to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand – will become mandatory in November 2023. At which point Local Planning Authorities must ensure that all planning permissions granted in England (with a few exemptions) will deliver at least a 10% gain in biodiversity.
This could be transformative if local plans are consistent with delivery of another of the initiatives to emanate from the 25 YEP - the Nature Recovery Network (NRN). This major government commitment pledged to protect and restore wildlife by providing 500,000 hectares of additional habitat, and to connect this with our best existing wildlife sites to deliver a coherent network of habitat across England.
Who will deliver this, and how?
The Environment Act 2021 introduced plans for the whole of England to be covered by a network of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) which will identify current areas of natural habitat that need protecting, and potential areas for restoration, so that all environmental investment in an area (including biodiversity net gain) can be targeted to the right place. Done properly, these new strategies could lead to a nationwide NRN.
Local leaders are in a perfect position to lead delivery of these strategies, using their local knowledge to prioritise measures that will have the greatest impact in the region. As we speak, Defra are in discussions with local government leaders, inviting them to take on the role of Responsible Authority (RA) for the LNRS in their area. Depending on the strategy area, we expect that each RA will either be a Mayoral Combined Authority or a County Council, but the expectation is that all local authorities will be involved in the development of their LNRS in some capacity.
This all sits alongside a strengthened legal duty for public bodies to conserve and enhance biodiversity which reflects the level of ambition set with the 25 Year Environment Plan. This will soon require councils and other public authorities to periodically consider the action they can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity, and then report on the actions they have taken as a result. We hope that this reporting requirement will help to ensure that local action joins up across the country to contribute to national targets.
Local leaders want to do more
The RSPB’s aspiration is for local government in all areas – urban and rural – to work to ensure that their constituencies are greener and wildlife-rich, focusing on nature-based solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, providing a healthier environment for both wildlife and local communities.
The potential for local government to deliver real progress on the commitments of the 25 Year Environment Plan has never been clearer, and many ambitious local leaders are already making significant progress. The appetite is there – the vast number of local and combined authorities who have declared nature and climate emergencies demonstrates a willingness to step up and show leadership in this area. This sends a strong message to national government that our local leaders want more action on nature and the climate.
They can’t do it without support
But Westminster Government must support them in doing this, and it is clear that local authorities face significant barriers that are preventing them from doing more. If we are to see the commitments in the 25YEP translated to local action on the ground, roles and responsibilities must be made clear, and our local authorities must be given the powers and funding they need to deliver their part.
Whilst this is a great initiative I am left wondering exactly what the 25 year plan has delivered and why it is worth engaging with it at all. it has always looked like a can kicking exercise - pushing action further and further down the road and in the dying days of one of our worst Government's in history isn't it simply storing up commitments to beat it's successor over the head with ? This Government has cut and cut wildlife and has recently brushed with abolishing it's most important protections whilst dithering and procrastinating over crucial reforms to agriculture. Even were the conservatives re-elected the chances are they would simply ignore legally binding commitments on grounds of the economy.