The (abridged) story so far…

The good news is that after multiple delays the Environment Bill was granted Royal Assent and passed into law in November 2021. As it’s no longer a bill, it is now called the Environment Act (2021).

The Act was created in response to Brexit, to fill the legislative void around environmental protections and has been developed with the intention of establishing Britain as a world leader in environmental protection. There’s real commitment to this goal in the Act, which mandates the Secretary of State (which currently is Priti Patel) to review global environmental legislation every two years and see how Britain measures up.

The Environment Act creates the legislative framework for legally binding environmental targets and standards to be created. It does contain some deadlines within it, but most of these will be created in the next couple of years. The Act means that, as far as possible, future governments will be held accountable for reaching the future targets set in the next couple of years.

Targets, you say…

In some ways ‘targets’ is a misleading word, as they’re actually legal deadlines. They involve compliance with an objectively measurable standard, by a certain date. (A hypothetical example would be to ban all types of non-recyclable plastics by the end of 2039.) Targets will be set by a parliamentary process called an ‘affirmative procedure’. 

The responsibility for creating them lies with the Secretary of State, who does have the power to adjust them up or down, although there are controls around how this can be done.

What will the targets include?

At least one target for the areas of air quality, biodiversity, water and resource efficiency / waste reduction must be created by 31st October 2022. These targets will have a deadline of at least 15 years in the future (2037). In addition targets for PM2.5 and species abundance must be set. The species abundance target deadline will be before the end of the decade and the PM2.5 target is open-ended in terms of the deadline.

It isn’t clear exactly what the targets for the main four environmental themes will be, though there are indications on their direction from policy makers working on them, ahead of a public consultation in February 2022.

Air quality is ‘the single most significant environmental public health concern’. The targets will likely include reducing the annual mean level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air (as required by the Environment Bill) and in the long-term, reducing population exposure to PM2.5.

Resource efficiency and waste targets will support the transition to a circular economy. The targets will help increase resource productivity and reduce the volume of ‘residual’ waste we generate.

Biodiversity loss is closely linked to climate change. The targets will help improve the quality of habitat on land, including freshwater and coastal sites, improve the quality of our marine habitat, improve the overall status of species populations on land and in freshwaters, and finally, restore and create wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites through appropriate management.

Water quality impacts the health of natural ecosystems and waste water must be carefully managed. The targets will help reduce pollution from agriculture, in particular phosphorus and nitrate; reduce pollution from wastewater, in particular phosphorus and nitrate; and reduce water demand.

More information can be found here.

The environment will be considered in policy making

The Environment Act requires environmental impact to be considered in policy making via a set of five environmental principles. This applies to all areas of government except for Treasury, Defence and Wales. A final statement on these Principles is due following a consultation last summer.

How will public and private sector organisations be held accountable?

Interim targets will be created via Environmental Improvement Plans (EIPs). These Plans will include annual reports to parliament from the Secretary of State and a review of whether the environment has improved in the given area over the 5 year period the EIP applies for. 

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is being set up to monitor progress and receive complaints about compliance issues, with the power to resolve them or pass them onto the High Court.

The OEP represents an increase in government attention towards climate change issues over time and follows the creation of:

• The Climate Change Committee, an independent statutory body – not a regulatory body – set up under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise on emissions targets and carbon budgets, assess the UK’s climate risk, etc.
• The Environmental Audit Committee, a parliamentary select committee set up in 1997, which holds the government accountable for its environmental impact via reports and inquiries.

Where does net-zero come in?
The legislative path to reaching Net-Zero is really worthy of another blog. The UK government already has a legally binding net-zero target, as the first major economy to commit in law to reach net-zero relative to 1990 levels by 2050. In summer 2021 a target was set to cut emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. Ahead of COP26, the Net Zero Strategy (October 2021) set out the policy initiatives in support of net-zero. Current targets applying to net-zero also include no new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, fully renewable electricity by 2035 and a green tax on gas bills by 2030.