Government says Planning and Infrastructure Bill “key activity” for achieving thriving plants and wildlife

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The Government has published its Environmental Improvement Plan annual progress report: April 2024 to March 2025.

In 2023 the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) was published, in accordance with the Environment Act 2021, as a revision of the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) published in 2018. This latest annual progress report covers April 2024 to March 2025.

EIP23 is set out in 10 goals. Each goal has specific targets and commitments described in the EIP23 that contribute to the goal outcome, including the legally binding targets set under the Environment Act 2021. The annual progress report is set out under these goals. The report provides a selection of key achievement updates related to each EIP23 goal. The 10 goals are:

  1. Thriving plants and wildlife
  2. Clean air
  3. Clean and plentiful water
  4. Managing exposure to chemicals and pesticides
  5. Maximise our resources, minimise our waste
  6. Using resources from nature sustainably
  7. Mitigating and adapting to climate change
  8. Reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards
  9. Enhancing biosecurity
  10. Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

Under Goal 1, Government states that, with reference to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, that “the Nature Restoration Fund measures in the Bill will unlock the positive impact development can have in driving the recovery of protected sites and species.”

As it currently stands today, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill absolutely cannot be considered as a key activity in contributing to the EIP apex goal of Thriving Plants and Wildlife.

The OEP has already pointed out, along with a number of KC opinions, that the current Bill represents a regression is environmental protections.

CIEEM is of the view that EDPs need to be more narrowly focused on only diffuse impacts – such as nutrient neutrality and recreational pressures – where they can have a strategic and meaningful impact on both speeding up development and enabling nature recovery.

In addition, we want to see the mitigation hierarchy applied to the development of EDPs themselves so that avoidance of our best nature sites can be built into the system even before it could become a burden for developers.

And lastly, we advocate that compensation and enhancement need to happen ahead of environmental damage so as to avoid a nature deficit and specifically to protect vulnerable populations from local extinctions.