Government needs to join-up the dots to turn environmental ambition into reality

Acting Director of RSPB England, Nick Bruce-White, describes the need for joined-up thinking across all UK Government Departments to help save nature....

Tomorrow sees the publication of the UK Government’s latest plan to save nature. It’s called the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) and it updates the 25 Year Plan published in 2018. It is a pivotal moment. This is when the promises of the original 25 year plan become legal requirements. All eyes will be scrutinising what it says and what it will deliver. 

What we need to see in this plan is urgency alongside both the will and cash to make it happen. We are in a nature emergency and time is running out. 

To do this we need to work a whole lot smarter    We need to make the most of everyone's skills, expertise and passions for nature. And in a cost-of-living crisis, we need to make every penny count. But it’s do-able – and if UK Government gets it right, the benefits will be far greater that the effort expended! That’s the aim, but where is the Government right now? 

In recent years, both the National Audit Office (NAO) and the new Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) have expressed concern about how well positioned government is to deliver on its environmental ambitions.  

Just last week the OEP published its 2021/2022 annual progress report, which looked at the delivery of government’s environmental objectives. It didn’t make for pretty reading. Trends are mostly flatlining or deteriorating, no targets were on track and halting declines in species abundance by 2030 remains a major challenge, requiring a “very substantial change in the pace and magnitude of interventions”.  

The reality is that we are way behind where we need to be and so much more needs to be done. Part of the challenge is to have a coherent vision and strategy to inspire change,There are other challenges. Delivering for nature is a complex business. It needs departments across Government to be involved, not just Defra. And for each department to take real responsibility for nature. What’s more, it needs to be considered early in all policy making.  

Basically, it needs Government to ‘Join up the dots’. For sure, this is not the kind of flagship initiative to which ministers and officials tend to lend their names and energy. But those attractive policy headlines depend on having the vision, institutional infrastructure and capacity—the vital connective tissues—in place.  

Such join-up need not cost the earth or be overly complicated. Indeed, many of the tools may already be in place. For example, the Green Book already provides Government departments with clear guidance on how to put nature at the heart of departmental decision making, but it needs to be properly used and implemented.  

The new environmental targets framework, in conjunction with the interim targets that will be laid in the EIP, offers an opportunity to drive through action and coordination by consolidating existing targets and setting a clear golden thread for environment across government. 

In challenging economic times, where spending decisions—whether at the household or national level—are constrained, joining up the dots is about delivering more for the public with less. It’s ensuring the big policies deliver for nature. It’s about, avoiding clashing priorities and working together.  

For sure, it’s often difficult to break out of Government “siloes” – and such efforts need leadership and direction. But clear direction from the heart of government will be crucial and would warrant the effort in the short term.  

In the aftermath of the Convention for Biodiversity conference in Montreal at the end of 2022, for the UK and its constituent governments, this join-up is more vital than ever.