Government’s wildlife targets will be missed in England, watchdog says

Flooding in Bottesford, Leicestershire, last year. The report found that people in England were at a greater risk than before of environmental hazards such as floods and wildfires. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

The government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said.

In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law.