Significant work has been done to meet the ambitious environmental targets under the 2021 Environment Act.
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) received over 180,000 responses from various individuals, businesses and other organizations to the targeted consultation, which ended on June 27, 2022.
Given the amount of material and the overwhelming public response, we will not be able to publish the updated environmental targets originally intended by the end of October 2022.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said:
I was part of the team of ministers that produced the 25-Year Environment Plan and prepared the Environmental Bill to be submitted to Parliament in 2019.
Defra will continue to work rapidly to finalize these environmental goals.
The government remains committed to laying out a broader set of targets to help halt species decline, clean air, reduce pollution, keep water clean and reduce waste by 2030. . To date, the government has released more than 800 pages of evidence supporting the draft targets, based on a three-year in-depth review of scientific and economic evidence.
Environmental law offers the most ambitious environmental program of any country and helps support our international efforts to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. For example, we will reverse biodiversity loss through last year’s Leaders’ Pledge for Nature negotiation activities. It promises world leaders to take action to promote sustainable food production, end the illegal wildlife trade and tackle climate change.
A written ministerial statement was submitted to parliament to update both houses. You can read this here.
