Green groups launch complaint against the Government after it misses its own legal deadline to set new legally binding environmental targets

1 November 2022

• Government misses legal deadline to introduce new legally binding targets for air quality, water health, nature, and waste management
• Environmental groups submit letter of complaint to Defra
• Missed targets join plans such as bottle deposit return scheme, reform of designated landscapes and targets to boost recycling on list of Defra delays

Green groups today submitted a letter of complaint to Defra after the Government failed to meet a legal deadline on setting new environmental targets.

The targets, applying to air quality, water quality, nature and waste management, should have been published by 31 October. Two coalitions, representing organisations including National Trust, Friends of the Earth and Woodland Trust, have submitted a letter of complaint [link over “letter of complaint”] to the government’s environment department urging it to publish these targets as soon as possible.

The complaint will also be shared with the new green watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), which could choose to pursue enforcement proceedings against the government. If it finds there has been a serious failure to comply with environmental law, then further action is possible. [1]

Read the complaint in full, and see list of signatories, here.

The setting of new legal targets is a key part of the Environment Act 2021. The planned targets were intended to drive progress in areas such as river quality by encouraging stronger government policy and providing certainty for business. [2]

The letter of complaint follows a recent decision by the High Court to find the Government’s climate strategy unlawful and request an updated strategy by March. The new version will have to show clearly how the government’s policies will deliver on its targets.

Dr Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:

“It is a worrying sign that the Government has failed to meet the legal deadline for setting targets. It does not inspire confidence that the Government will meet the targets themselves.

“The Government should work quickly to publish its package of targets, using this extra time to ensure they are as strong as possible. The package must include targets for the condition of habitats, for the overall quality of our rivers and streams, and an ambitious target to reverse the decline of wildlife – all of which were missing in the consultation, but all of which are necessary for the future of nature.

Ruth Chambers of the Greener UK coalition said:

“By missing this deadline the government is undermining its own flagship legislation. We urge the new secretary of state to make this an urgent priority and set ambitious targets for restoring our natural environment.”

Harry Bowell, Director of Land and Nature at National Trust, said:

“The Government is rightly proud of the Environment Act, which created a vital policy and legal framework to help address the critical decline in nature. However, the Government has now failed to deliver against one of the most important legal requirements of that Act – to set binding legal targets to improve environmental health. This means we are falling at the first step in implementing this crucial legislation.

“The Secretary of State must now move quickly to rectify this and put these legally-required targets in place. Time is of the essence if the Government is to deliver on its long-stated ambition to leave nature in a better state for future generations.”

See additional quotes in notes to editors. [3]

Green groups have demanded that the Government use the targets delay to bring forward a stronger package of targets, capable of restoring the natural environment. They are calling for new ambitious targets to be published before the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December to ensure that any bold statements from the UK Government on global nature recovery are not undermined by a failure to deliver at home.

As it stands, the government is going ahead with its Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, which aims to remove hundreds of EU-derived environmental laws by the end of 2023. Plans are also afoot for “fundamental reform” of the Habitats Regulations, which could weaken the UK’s most effective and legally-robust laws defending natural habitats and wildlife. [4]

The complaint also comes against a backdrop of worrying numbers for the environment:

• Global wildlife populations have plummeted by 69% on average since 1970, with a decline of 50% in the UK
• Proposed targets on species abundance, consulted on in Spring 2022, are so weak that by 2042 England could have less wildlife than it does today.
  
• Against a target of protecting 30% of the land and sea for nature by 2030, just 3.22% of land and 8% of sea is effectively protected for nature in the UK
• Half of British butterfly species are threatened with extinction
• 70 species of bird are on the red list of conservation concern
• A quarter of UK mammal species are at risk of extinction
• There were 372,533 sewage discharges in 2021, polluting our waterways for 2,667,452 hours
• The UK annual average level of particle pollution for 2021 was 12.9μg/m3, against a recognised health standard of 10μg/m3 – a level the Government does not plan to meet until 2040.

All of these numbers, as well as targets set by Government to halt the decline of nature by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, indicate an urgent need for strong environmental targets to be set in law as soon as possible.

Notes to editors:

1. See DAC Beachcroft briefing on the OEP’s strategy and enforcement policy
   
2. Fifteen businesses including Heathrow and Wates wrote to then chancellor Philip Hammond in 2018 calling for ‘clear’ and ‘ambitious’ legal targets, arguing that green targets ‘give a reliable trajectory toward a green economy, generating investment in innovation, supply chains and skills, and better quality products and infrastructure’.
3. Sandy Luk, Chief Executive at the Marine Conservation Society said: “It is very disappointing to see the UK Government has today missed its own legal deadline for setting vital environmental targets. We are in the midst of a climate and nature emergency, and this does not inspire confidence that our government can deliver the significant action necessary to protect our seas, restore habitats and promote species abundance.This is set against a target of protecting 30% of the land and sea for nature by 2030, when currently just 3% of land and 8% of sea is effectively protected for nature in the UK, we expect more from government. Nature cannot wait.”
4. Notes on deregulation:
   1. The Habitats Regulations protect 256 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and 90 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in England covering over 7.9 million hectares.
   2. List of English SACs and SPAs (sites protected by Habitats Regulations) available online by downloading the list of designated sites spreadsheet.
      1. Across the UK this figure rises to 284 SPAs and 658 SACs, covering 18.8 million hectares
   3. Some of the key environmental laws the Retained EU Law Bill threatens include:
      1. The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017: rules that protect hundreds of wildlife sites from unsustainable development and safeguard threatened species from destruction.
      2. The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017: the laws that set strict standards for rivers and streams, guarding against pollution and over-abstraction.
      3. The Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010: imposing limits on toxic air pollution, such as particulate matter, which is responsible for widespread environmental harm and serious harm to human health.
      4. The Marine Strategy Regulations 2010: requiring government to implement plans for the protection of our seas and vulnerable sea life.
   4. There are significant concerns over plans to review Environmental Land Management schemes that reward nature-friendly farming practices.