February 2026
If the Government is to achieve the goals set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), such as restoring 250,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2030 and doubling wildlife-friendly farms, education has to play a central role. Every child and young person must understand, value and feel connected to nature, and be empowered to take action to enhance it.
That’s why the EIP’s recognition that learning about nature should take place at every level of education is particularly important. Without it, many of the Plan’s ambitions simply won’t be deliverable.
The EIP does rightly identify the need to build green skills for the future and to support more sustainable behaviour, however education is the foundation for cultivating a culture where people have the knowledge, confidence and pathways to act for nature’s recovery.
Take skills and workforce planning. Commitments to expand T Levels and apprenticeships in horticulture, land management, forestry and land security requires young people to have already engaged with nature long before they choose a career path. The same applies to the water sector, which relies on strong STEM and environmental science pathways beginning in schools.
In other words, environmental education is not only an ecological imperative, but also a social and economic one. It lays the groundwork for a workforce equipped to restore the natural environment and to meet the targets set out in the Environment Act.
Our policy ask remains clear: Regular, high-quality access to and engagement with nature within education should become a statutory right for every child in England.
This includes:
These asks are explored further in our briefings wcl.org.uk
The Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR)
The recently published Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) report set out a vision for a more coherent, inclusive and mission-led education system. Its focus on clear curriculum intent, coherent sequencing, assessment aligned with learning and high-quality professional development for teachers provides a timely opportunity to embed environmental literacy more systematically across subjects.
The CAR’s long-term outlook, combined with Government statements on the importance of access to nature, outdoor learning and adventure, creates a strong platform for aligning education reform with EIP delivery.
The EIP itself also commits to strengthening climate education already in the national curriculum – particularly in geography, science and citizenship, and sustainability in design and technology. That’s a useful starting point, but it’s not enough on its own.
To make the EIP’s ambitions real, policymakers must ensure that CAR implementation:
Without this alignment, there’s a real risk that the EIP’s skills and workforce ambitions will race ahead of the education system’s ability to deliver them.
Access and equity can’t be an afterthought
Despite slow and unclear delivery structures for nature-based education, young people care deeply about the environment. A recent Natural England survey found that 85% of young people consider the environment important, and 89% want to do more to protect it. Yet opportunities to access green spaces and nature-rich learning remain highly unequal.
Disability, household income, and wider systemic barriers continue to limit opportunities for many children to engage meaningfully with nature. While the EIP acknowledges that nature should be a part of all our lives and embedded throughout education, acknowledgement alone is insufficient. To realise this vision, these inequities must be addressed so that nature-based education is accessible to all, not just a privileged few.
The benefits of nature-based learning also extend to educators themselves. Evidence shows that outdoor and nature-rich approaches can support teacher wellbeing, strengthen relationships and create calmer, more positive learning environments. This is vital at a time when the education workforce is under sustained pressure.
Final Thoughts
The revised EIP and the Curriculum and Assessment Review together offer a great opportunity to rethink how children learn in, about and for nature. While there are improvements in the EIP – embedding learning in, about, through and for nature within statutory frameworks is essential to turning ambition into action.
Without a generation equipped with the knowledge and connection to nature needed to drive change, the UK risks falling short of its environmental commitments. The challenge now is delivery – with education at its core.
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