Environmental Governance: Policy statement & targets

The Government will have a duty to ensure targets are met and to be satisfied they can be met - which raises questions as to how stretching they will be.

Once in force, new provisions will set a revised governance structure for environmental protection, with binding targets and a policy statement on key environmental principles. The law technically extends to England and Wales, but will apply only to England unless specified.

Targets

A new power in force allows the Government to introduce regulations for England setting long term targets (at least 15 years) in relation to the environment and people’s enjoyment of it. Regulations must be produced by 31 October 2022 setting targets for:

  • air quality, water, biodiversity, resource efficiency and waste reduction, with a date for compliance and the standard to be achieved
  • the annual mean level of certain particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air (to be defined), but that need not be a 15 year target
  • the abundance of species (to halt decline) with a compliance by 31 December 2030.

The Government will have a duty to ensure targets are met and to be satisfied they can be met - which raises questions as to how stretching they will be. There will be requirements for reporting on compliance and steps to be taken.

The targets must be reviewed by 31 January 2023 and every 5 years thereafter, to consider whether they will “significantly improve” the natural environment. They can be amended or revoked if they no longer serve a significant benefit or if necessary due to changes in circumstances (for example where the costs of meeting the target would be disproportionate to the benefits).

Plan to improve

The Government is required to produce an “Environmental Improvement Plan“ (EIP) of at least 15 years for England, for significantly improving the natural environment. The first EIP is effectively the 2018 publication “A green future: our 25-year plan to improve the environment”, but this must be reviewed by 31 January 2023 and then at least every 5 years. There must be annual reporting and interim targets to secure an “appropriate contribution” to the long-term targets, with data collection to monitor environmental improvement and progress.

Policy statement

Once provisions are in force, the Government must prepare a policy statement on key environmental principles, explaining how those principles should be “interpreted and proportionately applied” by Ministers in making policy (note that policy includes proposals for legislation, but not administrative decisions such as on planning applications). The principles comprise:

• that environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policies • preventative action to avert environmental damage • the precautionary principle so far as relating to the environment • that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source • the polluter pays principle.

These principles are not new - the Government has already committed to them through international instruments and processes. Once in effect, Ministers must have due regard to the policy statement (there are excluded areas such as defence and taxation), but have a “get out” where a matter would have no significant environmental benefit or be disproportionate.

Other protections

To try to prevent backwards steps being taken, provisions will be introduced which will require the Government, when introducing new environmental law into either House of Parliament, to make a statement confirming whether it will reduce the level of environmental protection by existing environment law. There are also obligations to report on developments in international environmental protection legislation of other countries or organisations (due to take effect in April 2022).

The Government has already taken steps to bring effect to these requirements, including consulting upon a draft Environmental Principles Policy Statement back in March 2021.

There must be annual reporting and interim targets to secure an “appropriate contribution” to the long-term targets, with data collection to monitor environmental improvement and progress.

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