The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 hopes to restore nature and reduce environmental pollution
(Picture: Ben Andrews / RSPB / PA)On January 31, the Government published its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England, which revises the 25-Year Environment Plan that was released five years ago.
The plan sets out how the Government will work with landowners, communities, and businesses to meet its environmental goals.
However, Greenpeace, like many others, has criticised it in a report, saying: “What use is a roadmap if you’re hellbent on driving off a cliff-edge?”
Here is everything we know about what the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 is about, what the Government has said about it, and why Greenpeace is criticising it.
What is the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023?
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023 has set out a number of actions that the Government believes will help Brits restore nature, reduce environmental pollution, and increase the UK’s prosperity.
The plan lists 10 goals, which are:
- Thriving plants and wildlife
- Clean air
- Clean and plentiful water
- Managing exposure to chemicals and pesticides
- Maximise our resources, minimise our waste
- Using resources from nature sustainably
- Mitigating and adapting to climate change
- Reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards
- Enhancing biosecurity
- Enhancing beauty, heritage, and engagement with the natural environment
The plan will see the creation of a new multi-million Species Survival Fund that aims to protect the rarest species in Britain, including red squirrels and grey seals.
It also promises to drive investment to support green jobs, set ambitious new targets to tackle pollution, build leadership in science and technology, and more.
According to the roadmap set out by the EIP 2023, every household in England will be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water, with the Government committing to restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitat and 400 miles of river.
And, from November, every government department will have to consider the environmental and climate impacts of each policy and piece of legislation they propose.
Delighted to launch our #EIP23 today - a plan for delivery putting nature on the road to recovery pic.twitter.com/O48XlW4eTv
— Thérèse Coffey (@theresecoffey) January 31, 2023
What has the Government said about the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023?
In the foreword he wrote for the plan, the Prime Minister shared that his Government was “committed to leaving the environment in a better state” than they found it.
“This new Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will drive this work forward with renewed ambition. It is a blueprint not just to halt the decline of nature in our country, but to reverse it – changing the trajectory that the country has been on ever since the industrial revolution,” Rishi Sunak explained.
Similarly, Secretary of State Therese Coffey wrote: “I know there is much more to do to restore nature - and to level with you, some of these challenges are not always so easy to fix as we might all hope.
“I can assure you, though, that with our new duty to consider biodiversity guided by our Environmental Principles Policy, we are embedding nature in the heart of every decision that Government will take for the long haul.”
However, earlier this month, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) highlighted that the Government is not on track to meet the 23 environmental targets it set out in the plan.
The OEP’s chairwoman Dame Glenys Stacey said: “Many extremely worrying environmental trends remain unchecked, including a chronic decline in species abundance.
“It is deeply disappointing that progress against so many crucial targets is falling short of what is needed to secure nature recovery.”
Why has Greenpeace criticised the Environmental Improvement Plan?
In response to the Office for Environmental Protection’s warnings about the Government not being on track to meet the targets, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, Rebecca Newsom, released a statement.
In it, she said: “What use is a roadmap if you’re hellbent on driving off a cliff-edge? A 25-year environment plan is all well and good on paper, but this Government has been utterly failing to take the essential action to protect nature.
“With a general election just around the corner, the public wants urgent steps to stop sewage pumping into rivers, tackle the scourge of plastic pollution, curb the destructive fishing emptying our seas, and clean up the air we breathe.
She added: “Back in 2019, when this Government was elected, it promised ‘the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth.’ If that were true, the Earth would be in even more trouble.
“With a new generation of voters saying climate and the environment is of critical importance to them, time’s running out for Sunak’s Government to have anything other than hollow promises to show for its time in office come the election.”
