(Sun setting on a Hedgehog, a threatened species, (c) Ben Andrew, rspb-images.com)
Today’s blog is written by Meera Inglis, Policy Officer for Nature Policy England, on the new EIP Annual Progress Report and a ministerial commitment to reviewing the EIP.
On Tuesday 30th July, DEFRA published its first Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) Annual Progress Report. It is yet another stark reminder that our natural environment is in trouble and that urgent, targeted actions are needed to save it. Will the new UK Government stick to its promise and deliver the Environment Act Targets?
What is the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) Annual Progress Report?
In 2018, DEFRA published the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP). It set out 10 ‘goals’, which aimed to tackle many of our most pressing environmental issues; from clean air and water through to protecting wildlife and habitats. Though it is largely focused on England, it has implications across the UK and the global environment.
Under the Environment Act of 2021, the 25YEP was revised and became the Environmental Improvement Plan, or EIP, in 2023. Each year, DEFRA is legally required to publish its Annual Progress Report on the 25YEP/EIP. It uses scientific indicators (which can be found in the Outcome Indicator Dashboard) to show whether specific areas of the environment (e.g. species abundance) are improving, declining, or staying the same.
This year’s report notes that the all-species indicator has shown an overall decline of around 69% since 1970. In the UK, 16% of species are threatened with extinction.
Since the first 25YEP Progress Report in 2019, progress towards meeting environmental targets has been far too slow. As the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) stated in their most recent review, to date the Westminster Government has been “largely off track to meets its environmental ambitions” and the new report shows that nothing much has changed in the past 12 months.
This month however, a new UK Government was elected. This is an opportunity for a fresh start and a reinvigorated approach to environmental policy making. Back in April of this year, Steve Reed – now the Secretary of State for DEFRA – stated that a Labour Government “will fully commit to restoring and protecting nature [and] will deliver the Environment Act targets. We will halt the decline of British species by 2030. We will honour our international agreements to protect 30% of our land and seas by the same date [and] will ensure the existing environmental improvement plan is fit for purpose.”
The latest Annual Progress Report shows just how vital it is that the new UK Government stick to this pledge.
(Puffin, a UK red listed seabird, on a clifftop, (c) Ben Andrew, rspb-images.com)
EIP under review
Alongside the Annual Progress Report, Steve Reed has announced that DEFRA will be launching a “rapid review” of the EIP. It will be completed by the end of the year and will include delivery plans to meet each of England’s Environment Act targets. This is a much-needed step in the right direction, and we welcome the commitment to taking a collaborative approach to this work.
The RSPB has broadly welcomed the new UK Government’s environmental pledges, as set out in the King’s Speech, but we also noted that there is much to do in terms of refining policies and shaping new laws. This is why we have set out 5 key actions that the Government will need to take if it is to meet its ambitions.
There are only five and a half years left until the 2030 Target deadline, the clock is ticking, but if the new Government delivers on its promises, there is still a real chance for us to work together to save nature.