In a report published yesterday (11 November), the National Audit Office (NAO) suggested a lack of clarity on objectives and costs could lead to a failure by government to meet its own environmental targets in the 25 Year Environment Plan, produced in 2018.
NAO said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) risked making decisions in a “piecemeal” way without a clear timetable for achieving environmental goals.
While the publication of the resources and waste strategy for England in December 2018 was highlighted as a significant milestone, NAO said that even before the Covid-19 pandemic Defra was late in producing more detailed proposals for some of the measures the strategy contained.
‘Some progress’
Gareth Davies, head of NAO, said: “The government wants this to be the first generation to leave the natural environment in England in a better state than it inherited. However, it is now nine years since the government set this ambition and it still does not have the right framework to achieve it.
“Some progress has been made on elements of the Environment Plan, but significant action is needed across national and local government, working with business and the public, if the environmental goals are to be met.”
“We are leading the world in protecting the natural environment”
A government spokesperson said: “We are leading the world in protecting the natural environment and combatting climate change and have made significant progress implementing our 25 Year Environment Plan for a greener future. Our landmark environment bill will go further by enshrining environmental targets for our air quality and biodiversity into law.”
EAC
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) chairman, Conservative MP for Ludlow Philip Dunne, also responded to the report. He said: “With a mixture of targets and aspirations and lacking an overarching strategy to bring environment policy across government together, cohesion is urgently needed for a government that strives to be an environmental world leader.”
Mr Dunne added: “We need to see the government’s rhetoric turned into action if we are to have any hope of reaching net-zero carbon emissions and, crucially, in the words of the government which we share, leave the environment in a better condition than we found it.”
Environment Plan
The government published its 25 Year Environment Plan in January 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Related links
NAO report: ‘Achieving government’s long-term environmental goals’
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