England set to miss legal wildlife targets as environmental risks rise

The Office for Environmental Protection said the UK government will not meet its legal targets to save wildlife in England by 2030 and reported rising risks from environmental hazards such as floods and wildfires.
England set to miss legal wildlife targets as environmental risks rise
A What happened
The Office for Environmental Protection said the government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures. The watchdog found seven of 10 Environment Act 2021 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, and the biodiversity target to stop the decline of species such as hedgehogs and red squirrels will almost certainly not be met. The watchdog reported that people in England were at greater risk than before from environmental hazards such as floods and wildfires, with more properties estimated to be at risk of surface water flooding and wildfire incidents continuing to increase. The OEP reported that out of 59 environmental trends, 24 were improving, 11 were static, 16 were deteriorating, and eight were not assessed because of a lack of data.

Key insights

  • 1

    OEP warns time is largely gone to change the 2030 wildlife outcome: The OEP said important species continue to decline and the opportunity to effect further change ahead of the 2030 target has now largely passed.

  • 2

    OEP links environmental performance to public hazard exposure: The OEP said people in England were at greater risk than before from environmental hazards such as floods and wildfires, citing increased flood-risk estimates, declining condition of risk-management assets, and increasing wildfire incidents.

  • 3

    OEP chair argues nature supports economic growth: Glenys Stacey said nature is not a blocker to growth but enables, drives and protects economic growth.

Takeaways

The OEP said England is off track to meet most legally binding 2030 environmental targets, including biodiversity, while flood and wildfire risks are increasing.

Topics

World & Politics Policy & Regulation Climate & Environment Climate Change Wildlife Law & Public Safety Public Safety

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