Government announces five-year environment improvement plan
1 Feb 2023
3 min read
The government has today published its Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023 and Environmental Principles Policy Statement.
The EIP outlines the government’s vision to restore nature, improve environmental quality, and increase prosperity in the country, and is the first update to the 25 Year Environment Plan created in 2018.
The five-year strategy is designed to expand on and support the government’s targets to improve the environment, quality of air, water and land, and includes:
- The creation and restoration of 500,000 hectares of new wildlife habitats, starting with 70 new wildlife projects including 25 new or expanded National Nature Reserves and 19 further Nature Recovery Projects;
- Tackling nutrient pollution, including by upgrading 160 wastewater treatment works by 2027 and providing increased advice and incentives to support a shift to sustainable agricultural techniques;
- Restoring 400 miles of river through the first round of Landscape Recovery projects and establishing 3,000 hectares of new woodlands along England’s rivers;
- Rolling out water efficiency labelling across appliances and ensuring water companies deliver a 50% reduction in leakages by 2050;
- Challenging councils to improve air quality more quickly and tackle key hotspots;
- Reducing ammonia emissions through incentives in our new farming schemes, while considering expanding environmental permitting condition to dairy and intensive beef farms;
- Developing a new Chemicals Strategy this year to establish the regulatory approach and priorities for the sustainable use of chemicals through UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals);
- Transforming the management of 70% of the countryside by incentivising farmers to adopt nature-friendly practices;
- Making it easier for people to do the right thing to minimise their waste, including a new set of interim targets for 2028 to reduce different types of waste, including plastic, glass, metal, paper, and food;
- Implementing due diligence requirements as set out in the Environment Act 2021 to tackle illegal deforestation in supply chains; and
- Boosting green growth and creating new jobs – from foresters and farmers to roles in green finance and research and development.
The Environmental Principles Policy Statement is intended to support environmental improvement plans and help deliver the government’s net zero commitment. The statement sets out how policymakers apply environmental principles to the development of new policy across government, and it will mean that, from 1 November 2023, environmental protection and enhancement will need to be embedded into the design of the policymaking process.
The EIP is not short on ambition but more detail is needed on how the plans will be achieved. Success will also largely depend on whether it gets the requisite financial backing. As these policies are developed further, there will be both compliance obligations and opportunities for growth. If you would like to explore these, please contact me or the wider environmental team.
This is a national endeavour. National government, local government, communities and families all have a key role to play through policies, through delivery of services and through the choices we all make daily in our lives.