Government to set legally binding “net zero equivalent for nature”

The government set what it described as a “net zero equivalent for nature” last week when it announced it would amend the Environment Bill to “require a historic, new legally binding target on species abundance for 2030 – aiming to halt the decline of nature in England.”

Announcing the move in Parliament, environment secretary, George Eustice, said he was acting on the recommendations of the Dasgupta Review. The amendment will be tabled at the Lords Committee Stage and secondary legislation be used to set the final target following the agreement of global targets at the UN Nature Conference (CBD COP15) scheduled for this autumn 2021.

Eustice also unveiled a raft of new measures that will be needed to achieve the nature target, including:

• an England Peat Action Plan to restore, sustainably manage and protect peatlands: “We will restore at least 35,000 ha of peatland by 2025, investing £50m through the Nature for Climate fund and phasing out the most damaging practices to our peatland”;

• an England Trees Action Plan to better protect existing trees and expand woodland coverage, aiming for 12% woodland cover by the middle of the century: “Over £500m of the £640m Nature for Climate Fund is dedicated to trees – tree planting rates in England will treble by the end of this Parliament to benefit our local communities, nature and climate"; and

• species reintroduction measures to recover threatened species and continue to provide opportunities for successful reintroductions. “We want to see a more nature rich Britain, with further action to bend the curve of species loss in this country.”

Eustice went on to explain that to move away from the policy of moderating nature’s decline to focus on recovery, he will also table an amendment to the Environment Bill to provide for a power to re-focus the Habitats Regulations to domestic priorities.“We want to ensure our legislation adequately supports our ambitions for nature, including our new world leading targets, rather than remaining tied to legacy EU legislation.” Moreover: “In addition, later this year, I intend to bring forward a Green Paper setting out how we plan to deliver a regulatory framework that is fit for purpose in driving forward our domestic ambitions now that we have left the EU…We need a revised approach to deliver this new species abundance target and better support iconic and much-loved native species like the hedgehog.”

These new measures will complement the existing provisions and legally-binding targets in the Environment Bill, which will tackle air, water and waste pollution. They also supplement the amendments announced in the Queen’s Speech to reduce harm from storm overflows.

The Environment Bill will have its final day of Report and Third Reading in the Commons on 26 May, before moving to the Lords. Eustice concluded: “We are aiming for Royal Assent in the Autumn. In the year of COP26, the Environment Bill is at the core of delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth and leave our environment in a better state than we found it."