25 Year Environment Plan

A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to
Improve the Environment1

25 Year Environment Plan

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25 Year Environment Plan

Contents
Foreword from the Prime Minister ......................................................................................... 4
Foreword from the Secretary of State ................................................................................... 6
Executive summary ............................................................................................................... 9
Introduction: Our new approach to managing the environment .......................................... 15
The actions we will take....................................................................................................... 31
Chapter 1: Using and managing land sustainably ................................................... 32
Chapter 2: Recovering nature and enhancing the beauty of landscapes................ 56
Chapter 3: Connecting people with the environment to improve health andwellbeing. .................................................................................................................. 71
Chapter 4: Increasing resource efficiency and reducing pollution and waste ......... 83
Chapter 5: Securing clean, healthy, productive and biologically diverse seas andoceans .................................................................................................................... 104
Chapter 6: Protecting and improving our global environment ............................... 110
Putting the Plan into practice ............................................................................................. 128

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25 Year Environment Plan

Foreword from the Prime Minister
1O DOWNING STREETLONDON SW1A 2AA

Our natural environment is our mostprecious inheritance. The United
Kingdom is blessed with a wonderfulvariety of natural landscapes and habitats
and our 25 Year Environment Plan setsout our comprehensive and long-term
approach to protecting and enhancing
them in England for the next generation.
Its goals are simple: cleaner air andwater; plants and animals which are
thriving; and a cleaner, greener country
for us all. We have already taken huge
strides to improve environmental
protections, from banning microbeads
which harm our marine life to improving
the quality of the air we breathe toimproving standards of animal welfare.
This plan sets out the further action wewill take.
By using our land more sustainably andcreating new habitats for wildlife,
including by planting more trees, we canarrest the decline in native species andimprove our biodiversity. By tackling thescourge of waste plastic we can make ouroceans cleaner and healthier. Connecting
more people with the environment will
promote greater well-being. And by
making the most of emerging
technologies, we can build a cleaner,greener country and reap the economic
rewards of the clean growth revolution.

The success of the 5p plastic bag charge
in reducing the use of carrier bags by
83% shows the difference whichgovernment action can make, anddemonstrates that protecting ourenvironment is a job for each one of us.
This is a national plan of action, withinternational ambition. As well as setting
an example for others to follow in ourtreatment of the countryside, rivers,
coastlines and air, we will also bring theUnited Kingdom’s international influence
to bear in pursuit of a cleaner and safer
world.
From reducing our carbon emissions andbuilding resilience against the extreme
weather associated with climate change,
to leading international action to protect
endangered species, the UK is aninternational champion for the protectionof our planet and we will build on ourrecord in the years ahead.
When the United Kingdom leaves theEuropean Union, control of important
areas of environmental policy will returnto these shores. We will use thisopportunity to strengthen and enhance
the protections our countryside, rivers,
coastline and wildlife habitats enjoy, anddevelop new methods of agricultural andfisheries support which put theenvironment first.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We hold our natural environment in trust
for the next generation. By implementing
the measures in this ambitious plan, ours
can become the first generation to leavethat environment in a better state than wefound it and pass on to the next
generation a natural environment
protected and enhanced for the future.
The Prime Minister5

25 Year Environment Plan

Foreword from the Secretary of State

It is this Government’s ambition to leave
our environment in a better state than wefound it. We have made significant
progress but there is much more to be
done. The 25 Year Environment Plan that
we have published today outlines thesteps we propose to take to achieve ourambition.
Environment is – at its roots – anotherword for nature, for the planet thatsustains us, the life on earth that inspires
wonder and reverence, the places dear tous we wish to protect and preserve. We
value those landscapes and coastlines as
goods in themselves, places of beauty
which nurture and support all forms ofwildlife.
Respecting nature’s intrinsic value, andthe value of all life, is critical to our
mission. For this reason we safeguard
cherished landscapes from economic
exploitation, protect the welfare ofsentient animals and strive to preserve
endangered woodland and plant life, notto mention the greening of our urban
environments.
But we also draw from the planet all theraw materials we need to live – food,water, air and energy for growth. So
protecting and enhancing theenvironment, as this Plan lays out, isabout more than respecting nature. It is
critical if the next generation is to flourish,
with abundant natural resources to draw
on, that we look after our and theirinheritance wisely.

We need to replenish depleted soil, plant
trees, support wetlands and peatlands, ridseas and rivers of rubbish, reducegreenhouse gas emissions, cleanse theair of pollutants, develop cleaner,sustainable energy and protect
threatened species and habitats.
Previous Governments, here and in othernations, have made welcome strides anddriven environmental improvement. Yetas this 25 Year Plan makes clear, there ismuch more still to do. We must tread
more lightly on our planet, using
resources more wisely and radicallyreducing the waste we generate. Waste is
choking our oceans and despoiling ourlandscapes as well as contributing togreenhouse gas emissions and scarring
habitats. The success of the 5p plastic
bag charge in reducing the use of carrierbags by 83% shows the difference whichgovernment action can make, anddemonstrates that protecting ourenvironment is a job for each one of us.
The Plan outlines ways to reduce the useof plastics that contribute to pollution, andbroader steps to encourage recycling andthe more thoughtful use of resources.
Over the lifetime of this Plan, we want toeliminate all avoidable plastic waste.
The Government’s Clean Growth
Strategy – the sister document to thisEnvironment Plan – sets out how we will
deliver the clean, green growth needed tocombat global warming.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will do what is necessary to adapt tothe effects of a changing climate,improving the resilience of ourinfrastructure, housing and naturalenvironment.

We will work with nature to protect
communities from flooding, slowing rivers
and creating and sustaining morewetlands to reduce flood risk and offer
valuable habitats.

Population growth and economic
development will mean more demand for
housing and this Government iscommitted to building many more homes.
However, we will ensure that we support
development and the environment byembedding the principle that new
development should result in net
environmental gain – with neglected ordegraded land returned to health andhabitats for wildlife restored or created.

Beyond our coastlines, we must do more
to protect the seas around us and marine
wildlife. Leaving the EU means taking
back control of the waters around theseislands. We will develop a fishing policythat ensures seas return to health andfish stocks are replenished. We will also
extend the marine protected areas
around our coasts so that these stretchesof environmentally precious maritime
heritage have the best possible
protection.

Most of our land is used, however, foragriculture not housing. The new systemof support that we will bring in for farmers– true friends of the earth, who recognisethat a care for land is crucial to futurerural prosperity – will have environmental
enhancement at its heart.
We will support farmers to turn over fields
to meadows rich in herbs and wildflowers,
plant more trees, restore habitats forendangered species, recover soil fertility
and attract wildlife back. We will ensure
broader landscapes are transformed byconnecting habitats into larger corridors
for wildlife, as recommended by Sir John
Lawton in his official review.
Our plan for a new Northern Forest, towhich we are contributing more than £5
million, will be accompanied by a newreview of National Parks and Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Planting more trees provides not just new
habitats for wildlife – it also helps reducecarbon dioxide levels and can reduce
flood risk.

Internationally, we will lead the fightagainst climate change, invest to prevent
wildlife crime, pursue a ban on sales ofivory, and strengthen partnerships totackle illegal wildlife trade beyond
borders, including investigating thefeasibility of an anti-poaching taskforce.
We will underpin all this action with acomprehensive set of environmental
principles. To ensure strong governance,
we will consult on plans to set up a worldleading environmental watchdog, an
independent, statutory body, to hold
Government to account for upholding
environmental standards. We will
regularly update this Plan to reflect thechanging nature of the environment.
While this 25 Year Environment Plan
relates only to areas for which HMG is
responsible, we will continue to work withthe devolved administrations on ourshared goal of protecting our natural
heritage.

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25 Year Environment Plan
These actions will, we hope, ensure that
this country is recognised as the leading
global champion of a greener, healthier,more sustainable future for the next
generation.

The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs

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25 Year Environment Plan

Executive summary
This 25 Year Environment Plan sets out
government action to help the natural
world regain and retain good health. It
aims to deliver cleaner air and water inour cities and rural landscapes, protect
threatened species and provide richer
wildlife habitats. It calls for an approach toagriculture, forestry, land use and fishingthat puts the environment first.

We will champion sustainable
development, lead in environmental
science, innovate to achieve clean growthand increase resource efficiency toprovide benefits to both our environment
and economy, and keep our pledge tohand over our planet to the next
generation in a better condition thanwhen we inherited it.

The Plan looks forward to delivering a
Green Brexit – seizing this once-in-alifetime chance to reform our agriculture
and fisheries management, how werestore nature, and how we care for ourland, our rivers and our seas.

We will also set gold standards inprotecting and growing natural capital –leading the world in using this approachas a tool in decision-making. We will take
into account the often hidden additional
benefits in every aspect of theenvironment for national wellbeing, healthand economic prosperity, with scientificand economic evidence to the fore.

Our ambitious proposals will tackle thegrowing problems of waste and soil
degradation – issues that affect our urban
areas as well as our countryside. They
seek to improve social justice by tackling
the pollution suffered by those living inless favourable areas, and by opening up
the mental and physical health benefits of
the natural world to people from thewidest possible range of ages andbackgrounds.
We also set out how we will tackle theeffects of climate change – still perhaps
the most serious long-term risk to theenvironment given higher land and sea
temperatures, rising sea levels, extreme
weather patterns and ocean acidification,
which harms marine species.
The UK Government has a role inprotecting and improving the environment
both at home and abroad. We will show
leadership on conservation, climatechange, land use, sustainable global foodsupplies and marine health.

Since the UK Government is responsible
for a number of policies and programmes
which affect sectors across the UK andinternationally, some aspects of the Plan
will apply to the UK as a whole. In otherareas where environmental policy isdevolved and responsibility rests with the
Scottish Government, Welsh Government
and Northern Ireland Executive, theproposals in this Plan apply to England
only.
More broadly, we will work with the
Devolved Administrations as we leave the
EU to uphold environmental standards
and go further to protect our sharednatural heritage. We will continue to workwith the Devolved Administrations onareas where common frameworks willneed to be retained in the future. This
Plan does not pre-empt these
discussions.

925 Year Environment Plan

Our 25-year goals

Our policies

By adopting this Plan we will achieve:

We will take action on a number of fronts,
looking to join up policies in a way thatmaximises benefits and value for money.
We have identified six key areas aroundwhich action will be focused. These are:

1. Clean air.
2. Clean and plentiful water.
3. Thriving plants and wildlife.
4. A reduced risk of harm fromenvironmental hazards such as
flooding and drought.
5. Using resources from nature moresustainably and efficiently.
6. Enhanced beauty, heritage andengagement with the naturalenvironment.

(chapter 1).


Recovering nature and enhancing thebeauty of landscapes(chapter 2).

Connecting people with theenvironment to improve health andIn addition, we will manage pressures on
the environment by:
7. Mitigating and adapting to climatechange.

Using and managing land sustainably

wellbeing(chapter 3).
Increasing resource efficiency, and

8. Minimising waste.

reducing pollution and waste

9. Managing exposure to chemicals.

(chapter 4).

10. Enhancing biosecurity.

Securing clean, productive andbiologically diverse seas and oceans(chapter 5).

Protecting and improving the global
environment(chapter 6).

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25 Year Environment Plan

Putting the Plan into practiceThis Plan is a living blueprint for theenvironment covering the next quarter ofa century. It is an ambitious project, madeeven more so by our use of a natural
capital approach, a world first.
As recommended by the Natural CapitalCommittee, making the vision of ahealthier environment a reality requires
solid foundations: comprehensive,
reliable data; strong governance andaccountability; a robust delivery
framework, and everyone to play a role.
Leaving the EU presents a unique
opportunity to set in motion the
behavioural and institutional changes
necessary to build sustainable, enduring
growth as well as an improvement in ourwellbeing. Critical to delivering theoutcomes we want to see is an effective
governance structure underpinned byenvironmental principles – on which wewill consult early in 2018. We will develop
a set of metrics to assess progress
towards our 25 year goals.

Durdle Door, Dorset

We will report on progress annually andrefresh the Plan periodically to make surethat our actions continue to target theright improvements and make a realdifference. Although the Plan isgovernment-led, everyone in society canplay their part in improving the natural
world, recognising its full value to all.
The Plan sits alongside two otherimportant government strategies. The
Industrial Strategy sets out how we will
boost productivity across the UK throughfive foundations – ideas, people,
infrastructure, business, environment,
and places. Clean Growth is one of thefour Grand Challenges laid out in thestrategy that will put the UK at theforefront of industries of the future,ensuring that it takes advantage oftransformational global trends.
The Clean Growth Strategy sets out the
UK’s reaffirmed ambition to promote theambitious economic and environmental
policies to mitigate climate change anddeliver clean, green growth.

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25 Year Environment Plan

A summary of our policies
Chapter 1: Using and managing land sustainably
1. Embedding an ‘environmental net gain’ principle for development, including
housing and infrastructure
2. Improving how we manage and incentivise land management
i. Designing and delivering a new environmental land management system
ii. Introducing new farming rules for wateriii. Working with farmers to use fertilisers efficiently
iv. Protecting crops while reducing the environmental impact of pesticides
3. Improving soil health and restoring and protecting our peatlands
i. Developing better information on soil healthii. Restoring vulnerable peatlands and ending peat use in horticultural products by
2030.
4. Focusing on woodland to maximise its many benefits
i. Supporting the development of a new Northern Forest
ii. Supporting larger scale woodland creationiii. Appointing a national Tree Champion
5. Reducing risks from flooding and coastal erosion
i. Expanding the use of natural flood management solutions
ii. Putting in place more sustainable drainage systems
iii. Making ‘at-risk’ properties more resilient to flooding

Chapter 2: Recovering nature and enhancing the beauty of landscapes
1. Protecting and recovering nature
i. Publishing a strategy for nature
ii. Developing a Nature Recovery Networkiii. Providing opportunities for the reintroduction of native species
iv. Exploring how to give individuals the chance to deliver lasting conservation
v. Improving biosecurity to protect and conserve nature
2. Conserving and enhancing natural beauty
i. Reviewing National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

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25 Year Environment Plan
3. Respecting nature in how we use water
i. Reforming our approach to water abstraction
ii. Increasing water supply and incentivising greater water efficiency and less personal
use

Chapter 3: Connecting people with the environment to improve healthand wellbeing
1. Helping people improve their health and wellbeing by using green spaces
i. Considering how environmental therapies could be delivered through mental healthservicesii. Promoting health and wellbeing through the natural environment
2. Encouraging children to be close to nature, in and out of school
i. Helping primary schools create nature-friendly grounds
ii. Supporting more pupil contact with local natural spaces
3. Greening our towns and cities
i. Creating more green infrastructure
ii. Planting more trees in and around our towns and cities
4. Making 2019 a Year of Action for the environmenti. Helping children and young people from all backgrounds to engage with nature andimprove the environment.
ii. Supporting the 2019 Year of Green Action

Chapter 4: Increasing resource efficiency and reducing pollution and waste
1. Maximising resource efficiency and minimising environmental impacts at end oflife.
i. Achieving zero avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042
ii. Reducing food supply chain emissions and waste
iii. Reducing litter and littering
iv. Improving management of residual waste
v. Cracking down on fly-tippers and waste criminals
vi. Reducing the impact of wastewater
2. Reducing pollution
i. Publishing a Clean Air Strategy
ii. Curbing emissions from combustion plants and generatorsiii. Publishing a Chemicals Strategy

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25 Year Environment Plan
iv. Minimising the risk of chemical contamination in our water
v. Ensuring we continue to maintain clean recreational waters and warning about
temporary pollution

Chapter 5: Securing clean, healthy, productive and biologically diverse seasand oceans
1. Introducing a sustainable fisheries policy as we leave the Common Fisheries
Policy2. Achieving good environmental status in our seas while allowing marine
industries to thrive

Chapter 6: Protecting and improving our global environment
1. Providing international leadership and leading by example
i. Tackling climate change
ii. Protecting and improving international biodiversity
2. Helping developing nations protect and improve the environmenti. Providing assistance and supporting disaster planningii. Supporting and protecting international forests and sustainable global agriculture
3. Leaving a lighter footprint on the global environment
i. Enhancing sustainability
ii. Protecting and managing risks from hazards
iii. Supporting zero-deforestation supply chains

Putting the Plan into practice Consulting on setting up a new independent body to hold government to account and a
new set of environmental principles to underpin policy-making.
 Developing a set of metrics to assess progress towards our 25-year goals.
 Refreshing the 25 Year Environment Plan regularly to ensure that collectively we arefocusing on the right priorities, using the latest evidence, and delivering better value formoney.
 Strengthening leadership and delivery through better local planning, more effective
partnerships and learning from our four pioneer projects.
 Establishing a new green business council and exploring the potential for a naturalenvironment impact fund.
 Work closely with a large range of stakeholders over the coming year to identify theircontribution to the goals set out in this Plan.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Introduction: Our new
approach to managing
the environment
We are blessed with magnificent anddiverse landscapes, coastlines and seas.
The environment is one of our mostvaluable assets and helps define us asa nation.
The uplifting sights, sounds and smellsof our natural and urban environments
are integral to our daily lives. Morefundamentally, the environment is lifegiving. It nourishes and nurtures all life,
human, animal or plant. We rely on ourblue and green spaces for food, waterand the air we breathe. Each vitalelement is a gift from a healthy, wellfunctioning planet. In turn, we arehealthier and feel better the more time we
spend out and about in the natural world.

Our environment underpins ourwellbeing and prosperity…
This is not the whole story of what ourenvironment gives us. The natural world
also underpins our nation’s prosperity andwellbeing. We often talk of being‘enriched’ by our environment. In recent
years we have come to realise that theenvironment does indeed delivercalculable economic benefits.

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25 Year Environment Plan
Initiatives to protect and improve our
natural world and cultural heritage areacts of stewardship by which we
discharge our debt to it, and so are moral
imperatives in themselves, but they arealso economically sensible. A healthy
environment supports a healthy economy.
That is why this 25 Year Environment
Plan builds on our Industrial Strategy andClean Growth Strategy, to transformproductivity across the country and drive
green innovation.
The UK is not alone in grappling withthese challenges. By taking a leadingrole, and developing the technologies,
skills and services needed to manage ourrelationship with the natural world morethoroughly, we can also grow oureconomy by exporting our expertisearound the world.
The economic benefits that flow from thenatural world and our natural heritage
have begun to take a greater prominencein policy-making, thanks in part to theground-breaking work of Professor Dieter
Helm’s Natural Capital Committee (NCC).
We see these benefits in increased
productivity from our natural resources
and a lessening of the demands placedon them. We see them in the boost to ourmental and physical wellbeing.

1

The term “green space” is used in a broad sensein this document, and includes a range ofenvironments known as “green infrastructure”,
including parks, playing fields, woodland, street
trees, rights of way, allotments, canal towpaths,
green walls and roofs. Blue spaces include a…and helps bring about afairer society
A healthier environment also helps deliversocial justice and a country that works foreveryone. For example, pollution affects
us all but it is the most disadvantaged insociety who suffer more. The poorer you
are, the more likely it is that your house,and your children’s school andplayground are close to highly-polluted
roads, and the less likely you are to enjoy
ready access to green spaces.1

We want everyone to benefit from getting close tonature (Photo: Forestry Commission / John
McFarlane).

Through this Plan we want to ensure an
equal distribution of environmental
benefits, resources and opportunities. At
present, children from minority ethnic
backgrounds and lower income homes
are the least likely to visit our countryside.
This should change, so that everyone has
the chance to benefit from getting close tonature and appreciating all it has to offer.
In turn, they will want to protect andenhance the world around them.
broad set of blue infrastructure, including canals,
rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and their borders aswell as features of the coastline that provide
people with access to the coast.

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25 Year Environment Plan

We face big challenges inconserving and improving our
natural world…
Our landscapes – our hills, valleys andplains – were created by age-old
geological processes but the way ourrural and urban environment looks now
owes as much to the work of people asnature. Down the centuries, we haveshaped and adapted our rural and urban
landscape to suit our purpose, not always
aware of the lasting effects of our actions– for good or ill – on the appearance andhealth of the environment.
The scale of human impact on the planet
has never been greater than it is now. Ata global level, the 20th century brought
many technological benefits and changes
to our way of life, but we have also
experienced unprecedented expansion in
population, consumption, energy use,
waste and pollution, and the conversionof land to agriculture.

The effects on wildlife and habitats arestark. We are in danger of presiding overmassive human-induced extinctions when
we should instead be recognising the
intrinsic value of the wildlife and plantsthat are our fellow inhabitants of thisplanet. Furthermore, human-induced
climate change threatens unpredictableand potentially irreversible damage to ourplanet.
It is in everyone’s interest to be part ofthe solution. Over the next 25 years wemust safeguard the environment for thisgeneration and many more to come. We
plant trees knowing that it will not be us,
but our children and grandchildren, who
get to enjoy their shade. In the same way,
we should take a long view of how ourstewardship today can lead to a healthierand culturally richer planet tomorrow. We
have already set out our plans to better
conserve our heritage assets2.
We all have a stake in our environment.
Everyone can play a part, because
government and environmentalorganisations cannot achieve thenecessary improvements on their own.

Conversion of land to agriculture. Tea plantation,
Malaysia.

2

The Heritage Statement 2017, Department for
Digital, Culture Media and Sport, 201717

25 Year Environment Plan

Industrial Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan
Our Industrial Strategy, published in November 2017, and our 25 Year Environment
Plan set out our approach to safeguarding our environment and future-proofing our
economy for generations to come. They are complementary approaches thatreinforce one another given the relationship between the environment and theeconomy.
The Industrial Strategy sets out our approach to boosting productivity across thecountry, raising living standards and improving the quality of life for all our citizens,through strengthening the five foundations of productivity: innovation, people,
infrastructure, places and the business environment.
It sets out Grand Challenges to put the United Kingdom at the forefront of theindustries of the future, directing the focus of government and engaging the private
sector to ensure we take advantage of major global trends, and improve people’s
lives and the country’s productivity. The four Grand Challenges are:

Artificial Intelligence and Data Economy – putting the UK at the forefront of
the artificial intelligence and data revolution.

Clean Growth – maximising the advantages of UK industry from the global
shift to clean growth.

Future of Mobility – becoming a world leader in the way people, goods andservices move.



Ageing Society – harnessing the power of innovation to help meet the needsof an ageing society.

Environmental protection is at the heart of the strategy, as our Clean Growth Grand
Challenge shows, and is also evident in our investment in clean innovation, thesupport for zero-emission vehicles, and measures to tackle local air pollution.
Similarly, the 25 Year Environment Plan will help boost the productivity by enhancing
our natural capital – the air, water, soil and ecosystems that support all forms oflife – since this is an essential basis for economic growth and productivity over thelong term.

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25 Year Environment Plan
Long-term action is needed, not just athome but abroad too. Pollution, whether
in our oceans or airborne in our cities,
does not respect national borders. Thiscountry has much to be proud of with arecord of global environmental
leadership. This Plan sends a message
that the UK intends to take on an evenmore prominent international role inprotecting the planet.

…and a natural capital
approach will help us meetthemLong-term action requires us to takedifficult choices, some with considerable
economic consequences, about
conservation. In the past, our failure tounderstand the full value of the benefits
offered by the environment and cultural
heritage has seen us make poor choices.
We can change that by using a natural
capital approach. When we give theenvironment its due regard as a natural
asset – indeed a key contributor – to theoverall economy, we will be more likely togive it the value it deserves to protect andenhance it. This is why, as signalled in
our Industrial Strategy, over coming years
the UK intends to use a ‘natural capital’approach as a tool to help us make key
choices and long-term decisions.
The value of natural capital is routinely
understated. If we look at England’s
woods and forests, for example, as anational asset, using a natural capital
approach, the value of the services they
deliver is an estimated £2.3bn. Of thissizeable sum, according to a recent
study, only a small proportion – 10% – isin timber values. The rest derives fromother benefits provided to society, suchas human recreation and carbon

sequestration – the process by whichtrees lock-up and store carbon from theatmosphere.
What is natural capital?
Natural capital is the sum of ourecosystems, species, freshwater,
land, soils, minerals, our air and ourseas. These are all elements of naturethat either directly or indirectly bringvalue to people and the country atlarge. They do this in many ways but
chiefly by providing us with food, clean
air and water, wildlife, energy, wood,recreation and protection from hazards.

Only 10% of the value of the services woods andforests provide is through timber.

This value is not captured by traditional
accounting methods and is too often
ignored in management and policy
decisions.
But when we use a natural capital
approach, we are more likely to takebetter and more efficient decisions thatcan support environmental enhancement
and help deliver benefits such as reduced
long-term flood risk, increases in wildlife,
and a boost to long-term prosperity.

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25 Year Environment Plan
It is an approach that can improve ourdecisions at every level – frominternational agreements to everyday
decisions by individuals. Individual small
choices – which coffee to buy and inwhich kind of cup; whether to drive towork or take the train – add up to a big
impact on the environment.

Small individual choices add up to a big impact on
the environment (Image: WRAP).

A natural capital approach is equally
relevant for those making decisions
involving the use of significant publicfunds.
Over the next 25 years, our policy
choices will be better-informed with anatural capital approach. Not all aspectsof natural capital – the contribution of
wildlife, for example – can be robustly
valued at present and we do not always
need to know a monetary value to knowthat something is worth protecting. For
this reason we regard it as a tool, not an
absolute arbiter. It is just one tool among
many in the formation of policy but a very
powerful one in ensuring that we think ofour responsibility to future generations tohand on a country, and a planet, in abetter state than we found it.

2025 Year Environment Plan

We have already made progress…
Measures we have taken over recent decades to bolster and protect our environment
mean that: Our rivers, beaches and air are cleaner than they were
50 years ago;
 Since 1970, emissions of potentially damaging sulphur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides have fallen by 96% and 69% respectively
and since 1980 ammonia emissions have fallen by 10%;
 The UK was at the forefront of international efforts that havephased out 98% of ozone depleting substances globally, under
the UN Montreal Protocol. We also played a leading role inamending the Protocol in 2016 to deliver a phase down ofhydrofluorocarbons (potent GHGs) by 85% globally by 2036;
 Since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions have been cut by 42%;
 Household recycling levels have almost quadrupled since theturn of the century; We have more stringent protection at national and international
level for our most precious landscapes;
 Since 2010, our flood defence programme has been protecting
more homes, with 250,000 homes better protected;
 35% of England’s seas are now within designated marine
protected areas, safeguarding important and vulnerable habitats
and species; Over 95% of our terrestrial and freshwater protected sites inEngland are now in good condition, or have management inplace to ensure that they are recovered; Populations of animals have been successfully recovered orreintroduced: there are now over 2,000 breeding pairsof red kites in the UK; otters are now found in every English
county and we are testing the waters with the Eurasian beaver
in Devon and the Forest of Dean.

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25 Year Environment Plan
This progress is the result of manydifferent policies, plans, Commissions,commitments and regulations and we are
grateful to the vital players who havecontributed; our farmers, fishers,
businesses, and environmental andconservation groups among many others.

…but all of us have much more
still to do…
This Plan sets out policies which willprotect and enhance the environment but
also urges all of us to think about how we
can contribute.
Tiny changes in our daily decisions canmake a tangible and immediate
difference, such is the power of group
action – whether it is the bags we use to
carry groceries, the fuel we burn to keep
warm, or the transport we use to getaround.

…so we will work acrosssociety to secure lastingchangeMomentum for positive change is growing
and in government as well as society as awhole we must harness this in coming
months and years. Government will help
bring about change in a variety of ways,
using both incentives and regulation
where necessary, to make sure that
responsible attitudes towards theenvironment become the norm. Manybusinesses are also playing their part.
Fast-food outlets are introducing
segregated recycling bins with separate
sections for paper cups, plastics andliquids. Other retailers are swapping
plastic straws for paper ones, andreplacing plastic coffee stirrers withwooden ones.
We will work with all parts of society andall sectors of the economy as we
implement the 25 Year Environment Plan
to leave the environment in a better statethan we found it.

Changes in our daily decisions can make atangible and immediate difference

We will invite bodies and people toreduce the environmental impact of theiractions, and do more to help communities
and individuals to engage with nature andenhance what they find there.
The illustration below sets out the goals
and main policy areas to work towards
reducing pressures on the environment
and increase the key benefits that itprovides.

22

25 Year Environment Plan

23

25 Year Environment Plan

What we want to achieve
Below, we set out goals and targets foreach of the environmental benefits andpressures we have identified. We will
refresh them regularly to make sure they
are sufficiently ambitious and reflect thelatest evidence.
We will work with leading scientists,
economists and environmentalists,
including the Natural Capital Committee(NCC), to develop, by the end of 2018, a
set of metrics that will chart our progress
towards a better environment, ensuringtransparency and accountability.

Some of the targets derive from ourmembership of the EU while others go
further than EU rules require. Some are
already legally-binding while others arenot.
We are committed to consulting on how
the government should be held toaccount for environmental outcomes by a
new independent, statutory body. This
consultation, to be launched early in
2018, will consider the best way to ensure
government fulfils its environmental
obligations and responsibilities. Further
information is provided in later sections.

Goals and targets
Increasing the benefits from the environment
Using the natural capital framework set out by the NCC, we have framed our goals forenvironmental improvement over the next 25 years around six primary goods and benefits
offered by a healthy environment.

1. Clean air
We will achieve clean air by:

Meeting legally binding targets to reduce emissions of five damaging air
pollutants. This should halve the effects of air pollution on health by 2030.

Ending the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.



Maintaining the continuous improvement in industrial emissions by building on
existing good practice and the successful regulatory framework.

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25 Year Environment Plan

2. Clean and plentiful water
We will achieve clean and plentiful water by:

Improving at least three quarters of our waters3 to be close to their natural state4
as soon as is practicable by:o Reducing the damaging abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater,
ensuring that by 2021 the proportion of water bodies with enough water tosupport environmental standards increases from 82% to 90% for surface water
bodies and from 72% to 77% for groundwater bodies.
o Reaching or exceeding objectives for rivers, lakes, coastal and ground watersthat are specially protected, whether for biodiversity or drinking water as per
our River Basin Management Plans.
o Supporting OFWAT’s ambitions on leakage, minimising the amount of water
lost through leakage year on year, with water companies expected to reduceleakage by at least an average of 15% by 2025.
o Minimising by 2030 the harmful bacteria in our designated bathing waters andcontinuing to improve the cleanliness of our waters. We will make sure that
potential bathers are warned of any short-term pollution risks.

Minimising the amount of water lost through leakage (Photo: Severn Trent)
3

75% target reflects current River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) analysis of where benefits outweigh costs; waters includes
rivers, lakes, groundwater aquifers, estuaries and coastal waters
4

As set out in international benchmarks and defined in statutory guidance to the Environment Agency provided for its work indeveloping RBMPs

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25 Year Environment Plan

3. Thriving plants and wildlife
We will achieve a growing and resilient network of land, water and sea that isricher in plants and wildlife.
At sea, we will do this by:Reversing the loss of marine biodiversity and, where practicable, restoring it.

Increasing the proportion of protected and well-managed seas, and better
managing existing protected sites.



Making sure populations of key species are sustainable with appropriate
age structures.

Ensuring seafloor habitats are productive and sufficiently extensive to support
healthy, sustainable ecosystems.

On land and in freshwaters, we will do this by:

Restoring 75% of our one million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protectedsites to favourable condition, securing their wildlife value for the long term.

Creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside theprotected site network,5 focusing on priority habitats as part of a wider set of land
management changes providing extensive benefits.

Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important
species of animals, plants and fungi6, and where possible to prevent humaninduced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and theOverseas Territories.



Increasing woodland in England in line with our aspiration of 12% cover by 2060:
this would involve planting 180,000 hectares by end of 2042.

5

We will develop more detailed targets as part of our post 2020 strategy for nature. We will focus restorationand creation on protected or priority habitats (habitats of principal importance under the Natural Environment
and Rural Communities Act)6

For example bees and other pollinating insects26

25 Year Environment Plan

4. Reducing the risks of harm from environmental hazards
We will reduce the risk of harm to people, the environment and the economy
from natural hazards including flooding, drought and coastal erosion by:

Making sure everyone is able to access the information they need to assess any
risks to their lives and livelihoods, health and prosperity posed by flooding andcoastal erosion.

Bringing the public, private and third sectors together to work with communities
and individuals to reduce the risk of harm.



Making sure that decisions on land use, including development, reflect the level ofcurrent and future flood risk.

Ensuring interruptions to water supplies are minimised during prolonged dryweather and drought.

Boosting the long-term resilience of our homes, businesses and infrastructure.

5. Using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently
We will ensure that resources from nature, such as food, fish and timber, areused more sustainably and efficiently. We will do this by:

Maximising the value and benefits we get from our resources, doubling resource
productivity7 by 2050.

Improving our approach to soil management: by 2030 we want all of England’ssoils to be managed sustainably, and we will use natural capital thinking todevelop appropriate soil metrics and management approaches.

Increasing timber supplies.



Ensuring that all fish stocks are recovered to and maintained at levels that can
produce their maximum sustainable yield.



Ensuring that food is produced sustainably and profitably.

7 Simply put, resource productivity is a measure of the value (in terms of GDP) we generate per unit of raw

materials we use in the economy

27

25 Year Environment Plan

6. Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with thenatural environment
We will conserve and enhance the beauty of our natural environment, and makesure it can be enjoyed, used by and cared for by everyone. We will do this by:

Safeguarding and enhancing the beauty of our natural scenery and improving its
environmental value while being sensitive to considerations of its heritage.



Making sure that there are high quality, accessible, natural spaces close to where
people live and work, particularly in urban areas, and encouraging more people tospend time in them to benefit their health and wellbeing.



Focusing on increasing action to improve the environment from all sectors ofsociety.

Managing environmental pressures
As well as maximising the benefits of a healthier environment we also need to manage thegrowing pressures on the environment that are the result of human actions.

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25 Year Environment Plan

7. Mitigating and adapting to climate change
We will take all possible action to mitigate climate change, while adapting to
reduce its impact. We will do this by:Continuing to cut greenhouse gas emissions including from land use, land usechange, the agriculture and waste sectors and the use of fluorinated gases. The
UK Climate Change Act 2008 commits us to reducing total greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels.



Making sure that all policies, programmes and investment decisions take into
account the possible extent of climate change this century.

Implementing a sustainable and effective second National Adaptation Programme.

8. Minimising waste
We will minimise waste, reuse materials as much as we can and manage
materials at the end of their life to minimise the impact on the environment. We
will do this by:8Working towards our ambition of zero avoidable waste by 2050

Working to a target of eliminating avoidable plastic waste by end of 20428.



Meeting all existing waste targets – including those on landfill,reuse and recycling – and developing ambitious new future targets and milestones.

Seeking to eliminate waste crime and illegal waste sites over the lifetime of thisPlan, prioritising those of highest risk. Delivering a substantial reduction in litter andlittering behaviour.



Significantly reducing and where possible preventing all kinds of marine plastic
pollution – in particular material that came originally from land.

Avoidable means what is Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable.

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25 Year Environment Plan

9. Managing exposure to chemicals
We will make sure that chemicals are safely used and managed, and that thelevels of harmful chemicals entering the environment (including throughagriculture) are significantly reduced. We will do this by:

Seeking in particular to eliminate the use of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) by
2025, in line with our commitments under the Stockholm Convention.



Reducing land-based emissions of mercury to air and water by 50% by 2030.



Substantially increasing the amount of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)material being destroyed or irreversibly transformed by 2030, to make sure there
are negligible emissions to the environment.



Fulfilling our commitments under the Stockholm Convention as outlined in the UK’s
most recent National Implementation Plan.

10. Enhancing biosecurity
We will enhance biosecurity to protect our wildlife and livestock, and boost theresilience of plants and trees. We will do this by:Managing and reducing the impact of existing plant and animal diseases; lowering
the risk of new ones and tackling invasive non-native species.



Reaching the detailed goals to be set out in the Tree Health Resilience Plan of
2018.



Ensuring strong biosecurity protection at our borders, drawing on the opportunities
leaving the EU provides.



Working with industry to reduce the impact of endemic disease.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Section 1 - The actions
we will takeThrough history we have taken too muchfrom our natural world and put back too
little, in part because the many benefits
that the environment provides are notfully understood or measured.
In this section we set out the actions wewill take to put that right and deliver thegoals described above.
The lifespan of this Plan is a quarter ofa century – a deliberate decision that
extends it far beyond the five-year
Parliamentary cycle and thus takes
account of the longer-term needs of theenvironment. Not every proposal will
– or needs to – take immediate effect,
but in this Plan we lay the foundations
for lasting future improvements to our
natural world.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 1: Using and managing land sustainably
At a glance
We will: Embed an ‘environmental net gain’ principle for development, including housing
and infrastructure.
 Improve the way we manage and incentivise land management, including
designing and delivering a new environmental land management system.
 Improve soil health, and restore and protect peatlands – this will include
developing a soil health index and ending the use of peat in horticulture.
 Expand woodland cover and make sure that existing woodlands are better
managed to maximise the range of benefits they provide – this will include
supporting the development of a new Northern Forest and appointment of anational Tree Champion to support our approach.
 Take action to reduce the risk of harm from flooding and coastal erosion

including greater use of natural flood management solutions.

As we leave the EU, we have a once-ina-generation chance to change ourapproach to managing our land so that
we secure and enhance the benefits ofthe environment far into the future.
The new approach will recognise goodpractices that build up and bolster naturaland heritage assets. It will also takeaccount of the negative effects of a rangeof land uses and activities. It will require abalance of incentives and regulations –influencing decisions so that we use land
in a way that supports cost-effective,
sustainable growth.

1. Embedding an‘environmental net gain’
principle for development
including housing andinfrastructureThis Plan recognises the government’s
ambitions for a major increase inhousebuilding (300k extra homes a yearby the middle of the next decade) andinfrastructure investment, and theimportance that these have for people’s
lives and economic growth. We want to
put the environment at the heart ofplanning and development to create
better places for people to live and work.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will seek to embed a ‘net
environmental gain’ principle fordevelopment to deliver environmental
improvements locally and nationally.
This will enable housing development
without increasing overall burdens on
developers.
We want to establish strategic, flexible
and locally tailored approaches thatrecognise the relationship between thequality of the environment anddevelopment. That will enable us toachieve measurable improvements forthe environment – ‘environmental net
gains’ – while ensuring economic
growth and reducing costs, complexityand delays for developers.
Current policy is that the planning systemshould provide biodiversity net gains
where possible. We will explore
strengthening this requirement forplanning authorities to ensure
environmental net gains across theirareas, and will consult on making thismandatory – including any exemptions
that may be necessary. This will enable
those authorities to develop locally-led
strategies to enhance the naturalenvironment, creating greater certainty
and consistency and avoiding increased
burdens on developers, including thosepursuing small-scale developments. We
would expect this should have a net
positive impact on overall development.

Some local authorities, major private
developers and infrastructure companies
have already implemented a net gain
approach. Our immediate ambition is towork in partnership with other
Government bodies, local planning
authorities and developers to mainstream
the use of existing biodiversity net gain
approaches within the planningsystem, update the tools that underpin
them and reduce process costs ondevelopers. We have already
implemented an innovative, strategic
approach to great crested newt licensing
in the planning and development process
and will look to build on and further
streamline protected species licensing.
In future, we want to expand the net gain
approaches used for biodiversity toinclude wider natural capital benefits,
such as flood protection, recreation andimproved water and air quality. Those
approaches will sit alongside existing
regulations that protect our mostthreatened or valuable habitats andspecies. They will enable local planning
authorities to target environmental
enhancements that are needed most in
their areas and give flexibility todevelopers in providing them. We will
explore the ways in which new data, tools
and strategies can support developmentthat brings wider environmental
improvement, including linking with fresh
initiatives, such as the Nature Recovery
Network into the planning system (seelater sections).

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25 Year Environment Plan

Actions we will take include:








Making sure that existing
requirements for net gain forbiodiversity in national
planning policy arestrengthened, including
consulting on whether theyshould be mandated alongside
any exemptions that may benecessary
Working with interested parties
to reduce costs to developers
by expanding the net gain
approaches used for wildlife toalso include wider natural
capital benefits such as flood
protection, recreation andimproved water and air quality- streamlining environmental
process, whilst achieving net
environmental gains.
Working with interested parties
to improve and expand therange of tools and guidance
that support biodiversity net
gain approaches, including
through the future
incorporation of natural capital
measures.



Producing stronger new
standards for green
infrastructure.



Exploring ways in which
national spatial data andstrategies could support andimprove the benefits achieved
through environmental net
gain.



Exploring the potential for
district protected species
licensing to be expanded andinclude more species,
delivering better outcomes forwildlife and a more streamlined
process for development.



Exploring, through ongoing
MHCLG-led reforms ofdeveloper contributions, howtariffs could be used to steer
development towards the least
environmentally damaging
areas and to secure
investment in natural capital.



Determining appropriate
locations to pilot a revolving
land bank for rural areas.

Working with MHCLG anddevelopment professionals to
explore ways in which design
can contribute toenvironmental improvements,
leading to better places inwhich to live and work and areduced environmental
footprint.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Housing and planning
Around 11% of land in England is developed. New building takes place on anaverage of 17,000 hectares of undeveloped land each year.
About 12% of land in the United Kingdom is designated as Green Belt land, and weremain committed to protecting it. The Green Belt plays an important role inpreventing urban sprawl through the planning process
Used positively, the planning system can protect key natural and historic assets andencourage high-quality green infrastructure in urban areas.
Environmental protections already enshrined in national planning policy will bemaintained and strengthened.
 New development will happen in the right places, delivering maximum
economic benefit while taking into account the need to avoid environmental
damage. We will protect ancient woodlands and grasslands, high flood risk
areas and our best agricultural land.
 High environmental standards for all new builds. New homes will be built
in a way that reduces demands for water, energy and material resources,
improves flood resilience, minimises overheating and encourages walking andcycling. Resilient buildings and infrastructure will more readily adapt to achanging climate.
 Enhancement of the Green Belt to make this land ‘breathing space’ for oururban populations to enjoy, and our diverse wildlife to flourish, while delivering
the homes this country needs.
Positive environmental outcomes can help reduce local opposition to development,
shorten the planning process, cut operating costs for infrastructure and increase thedesirability of new homes.

35

25 Year Environment Plan

2. Improving how we manage
and incentivise land
management
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
has been one of the main drivers of land
use and management over the last 45
years, and has caused significant
environmental damage. As we deliver a
Green Brexit that puts environmental
policy at the heart of England’s domestic
and international priorities, farming andagricultural policy is a key area of focus.
£3.2bn is spent in the UK under the CAP.
£2.59bn of this is spent under ‘Pillar 1’ –the ‘basic payment scheme’ (BPS). This
pays farmers according to the amount ofland they own, rather than the outcomes
they achieve. It concentrates money inthe hands of those who already havesignificant private wealth, without
improving environmental outcomes.
There have been efforts to improve thisby ‘greening’ one third of BPS payments– but scholars have recently found these
to be largely ineffective. Just £0.64bn –20% of the total – is spent onenvironmental stewardship programmes
under ‘Pillar 2’.
One of the first challenges we face is
how to optimise sustainable foodproduction. We will seek to support truly
sustainable productivity growth. For
example, planting over-winter cover crops(grown between periods of regular crop
production) can increase yield and also
improve soil health. Other measures
include reducing soil compaction throughsubsoiling or effective crop rotation. We
also know that small copses, hedgerow
trees and individual trees play animportant role in breaking up
monocultures of arable crops.

In calling for everyone to work together toimprove the land for our environment we
recognise that there is a complex pictureof land ownership in England, with over
40% of farmland being tenanted. We will
work with all of those who shape our land
to design our future policy.
Research and innovation are part of theanswer. Agri-tech developments cansignificantly improve farm performance, interms of both profits and the environment.
Properly implemented precision farming,
resource efficiency, and better livestockand crop management can achieve more
effective sustainable productivity growth.
An example from the Agri-tech Catalyst
programme is Saturn Bioponics’ andValeFresco’s successful trial of a verticalhydroponic growth system for Pak Choi ata polytunnel operated by ValeFresco.
This has demonstrated between a threeand four-fold increase in crop yield on thesame land area, with reduced input
requirements (water, fertiliser andpesticides) and improved crop quality.
Saturn Bioponics has received agovernment productivity award for its
work.

i. Designing and delivering a
new environmental land
management system
Leaving the CAP means we can do much
more for our environment. After a periodof stability to ensure a smooth transition,
we will move to a system of paying
farmers public money for public goods.
The principal public good we want toinvest in is environmental enhancement.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will introduce a new environmental
land management system to deliver this.
It will incentivise and reward land
managers to restore and improve our
natural capital and rural heritage. It will
also provide support for farmers and land
managers as we move towards a more
effective application of the ‘polluter pays’
principle (whereby for costs of pollution lie
with those responsible for it).
A new environmental land management
scheme will help us deliver more for theenvironment (including mitigation of andadaptation to the effects of climatechange) and provide flexibility, putting
more management decisions in the handsof farmers.
In the past, such schemes havesupported the creation of nesting andfood resources for nationally scarce
farmland bird and pollinator species,
increased breeding populations of cirlbuntings, stone curlews and the marsh
fritillary butterfly. They have also help toconserve important heritage assets.
For future schemes, we will aim to keep
bureaucracy to a minimum, as well as
design a more user-friendly application
process. We will continue to invest intechnical advice to support farmers andland managers in delivering the outcomes
and to help them to work together toachieve benefits at landscape andcatchment level. We will also explore
where capital grants could support the
adoption of long-term sustainable land
management practices.
We will set out our proposals for a new
system in a Command Paper later thisspring and consult widely with farmers
and other stakeholders. We will work
closely with the devolved administrations

on a framework that works for the wholeof the UK and reflects the needs andindividual circumstances of Scotland,
Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Aspart of this, we will continue to engage
regularly with all the devolved
administrations to explore options on thedesign and appropriate extent of theforthcoming Agriculture Bill.

Actions we will take include:Working with land managers
and others to consider the roleof a new environmental land
management scheme thatencourages broad participationand secures environmental
improvements.

Retaining and further improving
targeted support for more
complex environmental
improvements, backed up by
specialist advice.



Exploring new and innovative
funding and delivery
mechanisms as part of a newenvironmental land
management system. Thesemay include private payments
for eco-system services, reverse
auctions and conservation
covenants (see later section).

As we implement the new environmental
land management system, we will monitor
and evaluate its effectiveness indelivering our ambition for a sustainable
farming sector.

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25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Introducing new farming
rules for water
Farming can be a powerful force forenvironmental enhancement but it
currently generates too many externalities
such as emissions from livestock andpollution from fertilisers and pesticides.
Overall, farming is now the mostsignificant source of water pollution andof ammonia emissions into theatmosphere in the UK. It accounts for
25% phosphate, 50% nitrate and 75%
sediment loadings in the water
environment, which harms ecosystems.9

The new rules will require every farmer to
identify and manage risks to water on
their land and start taking precautions to
reduce ammonia emissions, thereby
reducing pollution and soil erosion, andimproving resource efficiency.

Actions we will take include:Enforcing regulations for new
farming rules for water from April
2018.



Reviewing the progress of the
new rules after three years.

Last year, we published new simplified
rules for all land managers designed toreduce water pollution from agriculture.
These new rules come into force on 2
April 2018.

Farming can be a powerful force for environmental enhancement but currently generates pollution fromfertilisers and pesticides

9

The impact of agriculture on the water
environment: summary of the evidence, Defra,
2014

38

25 Year Environment Planiii. Working with farmers to use
fertilisers efficiently
By ensuring fertilisers are used efficiently,
we can cut the air and water pollution thatharms public health and the environment,
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Poor storage of manure and slurry canlead to the release of harmful chemicals
and gases such as ammonia (in 2015,
more than four-fifths of ammonia
emissions in the UK stemmed fromagriculture). This can cause acid rain,
combine with pollution from traffic andindustry to form smog, and harm soils
and vegetation.
Ammonia is also disseminated throughthe poor storage of manure and slurry,
deposit of manure, and the spreading ofmanures, slurries and mineral fertilisers.
This pollution could be substantiallyreduced through consistent use of goodnutrient management practices. We havealready taken action.

Actions we will take include:

Putting in place a robust
framework to limit inputs ofnitrogen-rich fertilisers such as
manures, slurries and chemicals
to economically efficient levels,and make sure they are stored
and applied safely.

Introducing clear rules, advice
and, if appropriate, financial
support.



Working with industry to
encourage the use of lowemissions fertiliser, andreviewing the levels of take-up
using data from the British
Fertiliser Practice Survey.

Through the Farming Ammonia
Reduction Grant Scheme, we haveprovided practical help for farmers by
funding slurry store covers, which can
reduce emissions during storage by up to
80%.

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25 Year Environment Plan

iv. Protecting crops while
reducing the environmental
impact of pesticides
We must protect people and theenvironment from the risks that pesticides
can pose. At the same time, farmers needto protect their crops. We should put
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) at theheart of an in-the-round approach, using
pesticides more judiciously andsupplementing them with improved crop
husbandry and the use of natural
predators. More can be done in the way
we breed our plants for traits beyond
productivity, making better use ofgenetics and the resources held in genebanks to ensure their natural resilience topests and diseases.

For too long, IPM has simply been viewed
as good practice for farmers to do
voluntarily. By making IPM central to ourapproach we will encourage wider
investment in research and development.
By reducing the use of pesticides in theround and deploying them in a moretargeted way, it is possible to reduce theimpact on the environment while keeping
open a sufficient diversity of options to
avoid the build-up of resistance and theneed for higher doses.
We recently announced that the UK
supports further restrictions on the use ofneonicotinoid pesticides because of thegrowing weight of scientific evidence they
are harmful to bees and otherpollinators. Unless the scientific evidencechanges, the Government will maintainthese increased restrictions after weleave the EU.

Farmers need to protect their crops. Potato crop, Weaverthorpe, Yorkshire Wolds (Photo: Amanda Riley)40

25 Year Environment Plan
Independent research shows an overall
decline in the UK’s wild bee diversity overthe last 50 years. Pesticides arerecognised as one of the potential
pressures in the Government’s national
pollinator strategy, first published in 2014,
which sets out a collaborative plan to
improve the state of bees and otherpollinators.
We will develop our existing strong
regulation of pesticides and work withothers on different approaches tominimise the impacts of pesticide use infarming. The Government will review the
UK National Action Plan for the
Sustainable Use of Pesticides in 2018.

Actions we will take include:Ensuring that the regulation ofpesticides continues to develop
with scientific knowledge and isrobust and fit for purpose, so as
to protect people and theenvironment. We will maintainthis direction after exiting the EU.



Putting Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) at the heartof a holistic approach, bydeveloping and implementing
policies that encourage andsupport sustainable crop
protection with the minimum useof pesticides.



Reviewing the UK National
Action Plan for the Sustainable
Use of Pesticides in 2018.



Supporting further restrictions on
neonicotinoid pesticides, in linewith scientific evidence. Any
continuing use should be limited
and permitted only where theenvironmental risks are shown tobe very low.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Farming
Our farms provide so much more than just food. They provide recreational activities
to an estimated value of £200m for farms and nearly £300m a year for woods.
Furthermore, the way farmland and woodland filter the air is valued at £182m and£794m per annum.10
But, agriculture is still a major source of water pollution. It is the primary cause of
30% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England being in an
unfavourable condition. Our traditional farmland birds have declined by more thanhalf since 1970.
A natural capital approach will help us build a new environmental land management
system which values the benefits of the environment and uses the most effective
incentives. We can learn from current agri-environment schemes.
Broadly accessible schemes such as Entry Level Stewardship combine
environmental protection with conservation objectives and can be applied
throughout the country. They fit easily into a farm business.
Targeted schemes focus on environmentally sensitive sites. They generally require
management for protected species or habitats and are supported with specialist
advice. In England, land managers undertake this type of management throughHigher Level Stewardship or Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreements.
These schemes have helped populations of marsh fritillary butterfly and the short
haired bumblebee to recover, particularly on sites of special scientific interest;
enabled improvements in water quality; and protected and restored landscape andheritage assets, including blanket bogs which are major carbon stores.
An example of a success story from Higher Level Stewardship comes from EJ
Barker and Sons, a family-owned partnership based in North Suffolk. They
demonstrate how high quality and high yielding crop production and farmlandbiodiversity can be successfully integrated. Their work has allowed species such as
grey partridge, great crested newt, turtle dove, yellowhammer, linnet, skylark, brownhare and the barn owl to thrive. Species-rich grassland, wild bird seed mix andpollen and nectar mixes have been established on non-profitable 'marginal' areas offarmland. They manage 30 ponds and 43km of hedgerows for the benefit of bird
and insect species.

10 UK Natural Capital: ecosystem accounts for freshwater, farmland and woodland, ONS, 2017 Figures

adjusted for 2017 prices

42

25 Year Environment Plan

3. Improving soil health andrestoring and protecting ourpeatlands
Healthy and fertile soil is the foundation
for farming and forestry. The quality andtype of the soil, in part determined byunderpinning geology, also influences the
distribution of plant species and provides
a habitat for a wide range of organisms.
We need to ensure healthier soils byaddressing factors in soil degradationsuch as erosion, compaction and thedecline in organic matter.
The Common Agricultural Policy has
encouraged the kind of farming that too
often leads to poorer soil health. We see
this in poorer productivity owing tonutrient depletion, declines in levels of
humus, and erosion and compaction ofsoils. We currently lack sufficient data toknow just how badly our soil has been
affected and this Plan aims to correctthat.

i. Developing better information
on soil health
Farmers and land managers can struggle
to monitor the quality of their soil, which inturn makes it difficult to improve. We willdevelop a soil health index (including
indicators such as the level of humus andbiological activity in the soil) that can beused on farms to check whether theiractions are having the desired effect.

At the moment, data on soil health is held
piecemeal by different institutions andbusinesses. It is not easy to access oruse. Defra will invest at least £200,000 to
help create meaningful metrics that willallow us to assess soil improvements,
and to develop cost-effective andinnovative ways to monitor soil at farmand national level.
Working with a range of academic andother partners we will build on the best
available existing knowledge, such as the
programme of soil monitoring in theCountryside Survey. We will seek out
ways to work with farmers to achieve
good soil management practices,
including appropriate tillage choices,
reintroducing grass leys into arable
rotations and the use of cover crops.

Actions we will take include:Working with the industry to
update the 2001 guidance on
crop establishment and optimal
tillage choice.

Defra will invest at least£200,000 to help develop soil
health metrics and test them on
farms across the country.



We will investigate the potential
for research and monitoring togive us a clearer picture of how
soil health supports our wider
environment goals.

43

25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Restoring our vulnerable
peatlands and ending peat use
in horticultural products by2030.
Our peat bogs and fens are important
habitats that provide food and shelter for
wildlife, help with flood management,
improve water quality and play a part inclimate regulation. Most peat soils
support ecosystems that are sensitive tohuman activities including drainage,
grazing, liming and afforestation. This
makes them susceptible to degradation if
poorly managed.
Over the last 200 years, we have lost
84% of our fertile peat topsoil in East
Anglia. The fens there could lose theremainder in just 30-60 years given
current land management practices and achanging climate11.

While peatlands are our largest terrestrial
carbon store, drained peatlands release
their carbon, adding greenhouse gases tothe atmosphere. Organic or peat soils
make up 11% of England’s total landarea, over 70% of which are drained or inpoor condition. Although our drained
lowland peatland makes up only a small
proportion of the agricultural land in
England, these are among our mostfertile soils and play an important part in
the nation’s food supply. Conventional
agricultural production using current
techniques on drained peatland is,
however, inherently unsustainable.
In view of this, we intend to create anddeliver a new ambitious framework forpeat restoration in England. Where it is
not appropriate to restore lowland peat,
we will develop new sustainable
management measures to make sure thatthe topsoil is retained for as long as
possible and greenhouse gas emissions
are reduced.

11

Managing the land in a changing climate, CCC,
2013

44

25 Year Environment Plan
We will also pursue work already under
way to restore peatlands. Funding forpeatland projects over three years will
become available in April 2018, the resultof a £10m peatland grant scheme
launched in July 2017.
The scheme will improve the condition ofpeatlands in England, cutting carbon
emissions and delivering a slew ofenvironmental benefits.
In 2011 we introduced a voluntary target
for amateur gardeners to phase out theuse of peat by 2020 and a final voluntary
phase-out target of 2030 for professional
growers of fruit, vegetables and plants. If
by 2020 we have not seen sufficient
movement to peat alternatives, we will
look at introducing further measures.

Actions we will take include:Announcing successful bids forthe peatland grant scheme in
February 2018, with funding
made available in April.



Publishing an England Peat
Strategy in late 2018.

Continuing to jointly fundresearch with the industry to
overcome the barriers to peat
replacement in commercial
horticulture. This will report in
2020.



Continuing to support theindustry as it puts the
Responsible Sourcing Scheme
for Growing Media into practice.

Hair's-tail Cottongrass, an important plant of peat bogs seen here on the Humberhead Peatlands NNR(Photo: Natural England/Peter Roworth).

45

25 Year Environment Plan

Maintaining soil health in farming
Making appropriate tillage or rotation choices are just two of a range of beneficial practices
that can improve soil health, maintain good soil structure and in turn increase crop yields andreduce the risk of environmental damage. This positive impact is, however, entirely
dependent on understanding the suitability of each practice for particular locations, soil types
and crops, and when and how they should be carried out.
Government is already helping farmers to select location-appropriate management practices,
through outcome-based soils rules and through both the Farming Advice Service and theCatchment Sensitive Farming Service. Government has also worked with Research Councils
to improve our understanding of soil condition and resilience, the results of which are feeding
into advice to farmers.

Case study: G’s Cambs Farms, Cambridgeshire
For the last 40 years, G’s farms have followed an intensive farming model where crop
managers were focused on the field for that one year, as part of the rotation. A strategy was
pursued to crop the land for everything they could harvest so artificial fertiliser and pesticides
were used. Yield remained flat for 30 years on high performing land.
Five years ago the farm began to explore a longer term approach to growing crops, setting
ambitious targets to increase yields, reduce the need for artificial fertilisers and pesticides
and work more closely with the local environment. They applied a consistent approach tocropping, reduced tillage, compost, cover cropping and focus on improving soil health.
As a result, the farms have seen increases in yield increase of as much as 10% in crops,
with a very quick development in soil ability and health. The farm now grows around 750
hectares of cover crops, which are being grazed by sheep over winter, up from 50 hectares
five years ago. The next step is for the farms to further develop their understanding of the link
between soil health, plant health, animal health and ultimately human health.

G’s Cambs Farms, Cambridgeshire46

25 Year Environment Plan

4. Focusing on woodland to
maximise its many benefits

i. Supporting the developmentof a new Northern Forest

We will increase tree planting by creating
new forests, and incentivising extra
planting on private and the least
productive agricultural land, whereappropriate. This will support our ambition
to plant 11m trees.

We will support the planting of a forestthat crosses the country in a belt of trees,using the M62 corridor as its spine. With
£5.7 million of government funding, we
will support the existing partnership of theCommunity Forests and the Woodland
Trust to accelerate and further develop
the Northern Forest. This will deliver
accessible community woodland to alarge swathe of England and at the sametime help us to meet our statutory carbon
budget requirements. This area has anincreasing population, meaning that
future generations will benefit from thisnew forest.

We will take the opportunities of otherlandscape scale interventions, including
when scoping a Nature Recovery
Network, to drive extensive woodland
planting while enhancing our distinctive
landscapes. We will also work withindustry and support Grown in Britain to
increase the amount of home grown
timber used in England in construction,
creating a conveyor belt of locked-in
carbon in our homes and buildings. A
wide range of economic andenvironmental benefits will flow fromcommercial afforestation to meet thegrowing demand for timber.
We will not focus solely on planting,however; we will also support increased
protection of existing trees and forests.
Pests and diseases threaten the wide
range of benefits we derive from trees
and plants. We want to make sure ourtrees can withstand future threats.
Beyond the economic benefits, theGovernment recognises the significant
heritage value and irreplaceablecharacter of ancient woodland andveteran trees. We are committed toensuring stronger protection of ourancient woodlands, making sure they aresustainably managed to provide a wide
range of social, environmental, societal
and economic benefits.

Looking up into the crown of an Ash tree (Photo
Forestry Commission / Isobel Cameron)

We will make sure that landowners,
farmers and key forestry stakeholders
help lead the work, and that it balances
the various environmental, social andeconomic benefits of forestry. We will
explore the best use of innovative forms
of private sector finance, including
philanthropic, social and commercial
investment.

47

25 Year Environment PlanThrough new approaches toenvironmental land management we will
support extra woodland creation,
incentivising more landowners andfarmers to plant trees on their land,
including for agroforestry and bio-energy
production purposes.

Actions we will take include:Working with landowners,
farmers, key stakeholders andlocal people to identify and target
areas most suitable for and likely
to benefit most from woodland
creation.

Supporting Community Forests
so that they can play a leadingrole in urban tree planting, bothas part of the Northern Forest
and in wider partnerships tobring trees and green
infrastructure to towns and cities
across England.



Promoting the Northern Forest
as a key contributor to the‘Northern Powerhouse’ initiative.

ii. Supporting larger scale
woodland creation
We want to increase the long-term supplyof English-grown timber, given strong
current and projected demand. We will
maintain our Public Forest Estate,keeping it in trust for the nation, reflecting
the value of the social and environmental
benefits it provides so that future
generations continue to enjoy them.

We will also increase the long-term
supply of English grown timber, byenabling industry to plant sustainable,
productive woodland and forestry thatmeets the highest standards of design
and management.
We intend that this continued support of
the Public Forest Estate will protect andenhance it. We want our continuing
promotion of large scale woodland
creation to give investors the confidence
to renew and expand wood-processing
capacity, thereby securing the supply of
current wood products and stimulating
further innovation with new products suchas cross-laminated timber used inconstruction.
We will provide the policy framework to
enable a long-term programme of forestry
and woodland expansion, helping us
move towards the pathway for carbon
reduction set out in the Clean Growth
Strategy. We will strengthen domestic
carbon offset mechanisms to encourage
private sector investment and develop
markets for domestic carbon reduction.
This will encourage more businesses tooffset their emissions in a cost-effective
way, through planting trees. We will also
explore how we might extend thisapproach to other land activities.
As a start, we will introduce a reporting
framework for businesses to drive
demand for Domestic Offset Units or
Credits. We will also introduce a Forest
Carbon Guarantee scheme, using theexisting Woodland Carbon Code. Given
strengthening domestic demand fordomestically grown timber, this risksharing mechanism will help to attract
investors.

48

25 Year Environment Plan
We will encourage larger-scale woodlandand forest creation, and directcommercial investment in new productiveplanting towards Forestry Investment
Zones, using an inclusive approach totheir selection. This will help to create theconditions associated with increased
carbon sequestration, greater confidence
in domestic timber supply and associatedeconomic benefits. A wide range ofenvironmental benefits will flow fromproductive forestry planting: these will be
maximised if investment zones aredeveloped and planned at a landscapescale, consistent with catchment-based
approaches to flood risk management.
As for forestry, while 58% of woodland in
England is already in active management,
the UK imports around 80% of the wood it
consumes so there is a clear opportunityfor UK wood - particularly in extracting
hardwoods from our broad leafedwoodlands. The availability of domestic
softwood is set to decline owing to a lackof conifer planting over the last 20 years.
Pests, diseases and overpopulations ofdeer and grey squirrels are a major threat
to trees that prevent woodland fromrealising its full potential. Our commitment
to increasing hardwood timber supplies,
means we will focus particularly on
increasing the proportion of broadleaf
woodlands that are sustainably managed.

Actions we will take include:Designing a new woodland
creation grant scheme, involving
landowners, farmers and key
forestry stakeholders in theprocess. We want landowners toplant trees on their marginalland, while encouraging
agroforestry.



Exploring how this new grantscheme could specifically
incentivise larger scaleafforestation to meet carbon
goals and wider environmental
benefits at a landscape scale.

With BEIS and MHCLG, working
with stakeholders and the
Cumbria catchment pioneer,engaging with Local EnterprisePartnerships to identify suitableareas for large scale woodland
creation, and promoting Forestry
Investment Zones to attractcommunity, commercial andlandowner investors.

Working with our partners todevelop new public/private
partnership models of investment
for research into the healthy
environment, including for
research on plant and tree
health.

Working with industry andsupporting Grown in Britain to
increase home grown timberused in England in construction.

49

25 Year Environment Planiii. Appointing a national Tree
Champion
We will appoint a national Tree Champion
to promote the unique blend of social,economic and environmental benefits
offered by trees and forests and makesure that the right trees, in terms ofbiosecurity, value for money, air quality
impact and biodiversity among othercriteria, are planted in the right places, inline with the UK Forestry Standard.
By bringing together key players acrossnational and local government and thesector, the Tree Champion will help todrive a step change in tree planting.
The role will also involve supporting ourmanifesto commitments and nationaltargets, including the delivery of one
million urban trees and a further eleven
million trees.

The Tree Champion will encourage
joined-up thinking on issues for trees andwill support the mitigation andmanagement of the impact of pests anddiseases on the extent, connectivity andcondition of the nation’s tree-scape. He or
she will also explore opportunities tofurther strengthen protection for ancient
woodland.

Actions we will take include:Working with the Tree Champion
and the Forestry Commission to
design and develop a future
grant scheme aimed at larger
scale afforestation to meetcarbon reduction goals and wider
environmental benefits.

Asking the Tree Champion to
draw on the Mackinnon review offorestry in Scotland.

We will drive extensive woodland planting while enhancing our distinctive landscapes. (Photo: Michael Gibbs).

50

25 Year Environment Plan

5. Reducing risks from flooding
and coastal erosion
Flooding and coastal erosion cannot be
eliminated but they can be managed, toprotect lives, communities and economic
growth – for example through town centre
regeneration and tourism. Climatechange is increasing the risk of flooding
and coastal erosion, and population
growth means more people are likely tolive in affected areas. Ensuring theeffective and safe economic use of land
can unlock productivity improvements, a
key aim of our Industrial Strategy.
In recent years we appear to be seeing
greater incidents of flooding. AcrossEurope, the number of people affected byfloods rose dramatically in the latter halfof the 20th Century; in England,
December 2015 was the wettest calendar
month overall since records began in
1910.

Climate change is increasing the risk of flooding
and coastal erosion – Waves break over Marine
Drive, Scarborough.

Between 2010 and 2015, government
invested more than £1.7bn on improving
flood defences for more than 250,000
homes, more than 28,000 commercial
properties and more than 800,000 acresof agricultural land.

Between 2015 and 2021 we are investing£2.6bn in more than 1,500 flood defence
projects to make 300,000 homes more
resilient. Since April 2015, this investment
has already provided 350 new flood andcoastal erosion schemes, providing better
protection for 100,000 further homes.
The situation, however, is likely tointensify as temperatures continue to rise:a warmer atmosphere can hold moremoisture, leading to heavier rainfall;
oceans are likely to become more acid,polar ice reduce and sea-levels rise.
Without any further investment in flood
defences, the number of properties at
medium or high risk could rise from 0.75
million to 1.29 million in 50 years.
We will take further steps to reduce ourvulnerability and exposure to the growing
risks and potential impact of flooding.
In 2019, we will update the national floodand coastal erosion risk management
strategy, looking to strengthen jointdelivery across organisations. We will
look at current partnership arrangements
ahead of a review of funding needs
beyond 2021, seeking to attract more
non-public sector investment, and makesure all relevant agencies are able torespond quickly and effectively to support
communities if and when flooding does
occur.
The Environment Agency will use its rolein statutory planning consultations to seek
to make sure that new developments areflood resilient and do not increase floodrisk. We will look to strengthen therelevant protections in the National
Planning Policy Framework.

51

25 Year Environment Plan
In addition, we will also focus on:i) Using more natural flood management
solutions where appropriate;ii) Increasing the uptake of sustainabledrainage systems, especially in new
developments; andiii) Improving the resilience of properties
at risk of flooding and the time it takes
them to recover should flooding occur.

i. Expanding the use of natural
flood management solutions
By working with natural processes, we
can better protect ourselves from hazards
such as flooding. Natural FloodManagement involves the use of a variety
of measures including tree planting, riverbank restoration, building small-scale
woody dams, reconnecting rivers with
their flood plains and storing water
temporarily on open land.
We should not expect that suchmeasures alone will offer protection inareas of greatest risk or in the face of themost significant flood events. Good
integrated flood management will see
these incorporated alongside more
traditional defences.
We are investing £15m up to 2021 tofurther explore the use of Natural FloodManagement, whose wider benefits
include better wildlife habitats, recreation
opportunities and water quality. These
were set out in the Environment Agency’s
evidence directory, published in 2017,
which included 65 case studies on
working with natural processes from aflooding and coastal risk management
perspective.12

Actions we will take include:

Learning from the £15m Natural
Flood Management funding todevelop our knowledge,
identifying and promoting
practical solutions for local
implementation.

12

Working with natural processes to reduce floodrisk, Environment Agency, 201752

25 Year Environment Plan

Working with natural processes and natural flood
management
Natural flood management can play an important role in flood and coastal risk
management. Techniques such as building leaky debris dams can reduce soil
erosion and trap sediment, protect water courses and manage water flow.

Hills to Levels Project, Somerset
The drained, farmed landscape of the Somerset Levels provides a testing case forworking with natural process, one which local partners have risen to address.
Work is underway to ‘slow the flow’ of water from the hills to the Levels, across alarge catchment (2,871km2). The project’s measures are working to improve
infiltration of rainfall into soils, intercept runoff by diversion and attenuation, slow theflow in-stream and attenuate flood water on re-connected floodplains.
So far this has helped protect properties in the upper catchment that suffer fromsurface water flooding and 150 properties in and around the Somerset Levels. The
project has provided approximately 15,000m³ of floodwater storage in water
attenuation features alone.

53

25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Putting in place moresustainable drainage systems
Surface water flooding poses a significant
and increasing risk, which can lead tosewer flooding and environmental
pollution. We will look at improving how
Lead Local Flood Authorities, water andsewerage companies, highways
authorities and other risk management
authorities work together to manage it.
Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS),
such as permeable surfaces, storage
tanks and ponds, reduce the risk of
surface water flooding. People andwildlife enjoy improved surroundings inurban areas, and water quality is better.
SuDS can also help communities adapt toclimate change.
Water and sewerage companies canalso help to improve surface water
management. The Government’s
strategic priorities and objectives for
Ofwat, the water industry regulator, set
out how we expect companies to bechallenged to develop a mix of solutions
to meet current and future water
management needs. This includes
improved partnership working with local
authorities to manage flood risk andadoption and maintenance of SuDS.

Actions we will take include:

Amending Planning PracticeGuidance to clarify construction
and ongoing maintenancearrangements for SuDS in new
developments, tightening links
with planning guidance for water
quality and biodiversity.

Considering changes to the
National Planning Policy
Framework and Building
Regulations in the longer term toencourage SuDS.



Improving existing arrangements
for managing surface water
flooding, and the outcomesdelivered by Lead Local Flood
Authorities and other risk
management authorities,
including water companies.

54

25 Year Environment Planiii. Making ‘at-risk’ properties
more resilient to flooding
Not all flooding can be prevented.
Properties at risk should be more
resilient, and better equipped to prevent
water coming in and to deal with it more
quickly if it does. Effective measures
include flood barriers, non-return valves
on wastewater pipes, airbrick covers, andflood-resistant coatings on walls.
A government and industry action planfrom 2016 showed that consumers lacked
confidence in these measures. We will
support the insurance and construction

sector in developing a voluntary Code ofPractice to encourage consumers andbusinesses to make properties more flood
resilient by the end of 2018.

Actions we will take include:Supporting an industry-owned
voluntary code of practice topromote consumer and business
confidence in measures toreduce the impact of flooding on
buildings, and on those who live
and work in them.

55

25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 2: Recovering nature and enhancing thebeauty of landscapes
At a glance
We will: Develop a Nature Recovery Network to protect and restore wildlife, and provide
opportunities to re-introduce species that we have lost from our countryside.
 Conserve and enhance the natural beauty of our landscapes by reviewing National
Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) for the 21st century,
including assessing whether more may be needed.
 Respect nature by using our water more sustainably.

We know how much the countryside andscenery mean to people: nearly 60% of
adults surveyed in 2015 said these werewhat made them most proud of Britain.13
226 million visits were made to the publicforest estate in 2016,14 while theestimated 95 million people who visit
National Parks and surrounding areas
each year spend more than £4bn andsupport 68,000 jobs15. Our goal is tomake sure that our policies balance theneeds of a growing, vibrant society withthe ability to access green space.
From the confirmation of the first National
Park in the Peak District in 1951, toEngland’s youngest National Park, the13

Taking part survey 2014/15, Department for
Digital Culture Media and Sport, 2015

South Downs, in 2010, the creation ofdesignated landscapes – which also
include Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty (AONBs) – has been among theoutstanding environmental achievementsof the past 100 years. They provide apatchwork of stunning, and protected,
landscapes.
In England, a quarter of our landscape isdesignated in this way, around 10% as
National Parks and 15% as AONBs. We
will make sure they continue to beconserved and enhanced, while
recognising that they are living
landscapes that support ruralcommunities.

Valuing England’s National Parks, National
Parks England, 201315

14

Natural Capital Account 2016-17, Forest
Enterprise England, 201756

25 Year Environment Plan
As planning authorities, National Parks
can shape the way development is used
to contribute to their social, economic andenvironmental enhancement. Whiledevelopment is not prohibited in National
Parks or AONBs, major development
should take place only in exceptional
circumstances.
Protected sites (including our National
Nature Reserves, Special Areas ofConservation, Special Protection Areas
and Sites of Special Scientific Interest)
have safeguarded many of our best
wildlife habitats, but the wider
environment needs to be considered too.
Extensive data on species and ecologicalcommunities across terrestrial, freshwaterand coastal habitats in the UK shows
significant losses over the last 50 years,
driven in large part by historic land usechange and pollution.
In order to help leave the environment ina better condition for the next generation,
we need to restore and create areas ofwetland, woodland, grassland and coastal
habitat, to provide the greatest
opportunity for wildlife to flourish and topromote the wider economic and social
benefits that healthy habitats offer.

We will also improve the overall status of
declining species groups, such asbutterflies and other pollinating insects,
birds, bats and wildflowers.
Pressures on nature are felt across theworld. Our actions contribute to significant
global efforts in line with UN Sustainable
Development Goal 1516, which calls on us
to ‘recover sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, halt and reverse landdegradation and halt biodiversity loss.

1. Protecting and recovering
natureWe will support nature’s recovery andrestore losses suffered over the past 50
years. We will develop a strategy fornature to tackle biodiversity loss, developa Nature Recovery Network tocomplement and connect our best wildlife
sites, and provide opportunities for
species conservation and thereintroduction of native species. We will
also explore introducing conservation
covenants. These actions will help us
create a healthier and richer naturalenvironment.

Taking this approach will help us improve
the overall status of threatened species,
such as hen harrier and curlew, and will
help prevent extinction, as well as
providing opportunities for reintroductionof species such as beavers. We will givepriority to species in England that are
threatened either globally or in the UK, or
those that are internationally significant.

16

UN Sustainable Development Goal 15:
Sustainably manage forests, combat

desertification, halt and reverse land degradation,
halt biodiversity loss.

57

25 Year Environment Plani. Publishing a Strategy for
NatureWe place the utmost importance on ourcommitments to biodiversity and nature
conservation under international
agreements such as the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD).
Biological diversity, or ‘Biodiversity’, issimply the variety of life on Earth – thevariety of ecosystems or habitats, of
species and of the genetic diversity they
contain. We value wildlife in its own rightbut biodiversity also underpins much of
the economic and social benefit we gainfrom nature.
To implement our international
commitments at home we will publish a
new strategy for nature, building on ourcurrent strategy, Biodiversity 2020. This
will coordinate our action in England withthat of external nature conservation andacademic partners, as well as farmers
and land managers. We will ensure thestrategy joins up with other plans andstrategies, including on the marine
environment, pollinators and peatland.
Where appropriate, we will continue towork with the devolved administrations tocoordinate action across the UK.
The strategy will help us protect our mostimportant wildlife sites and species anddraw in new investment alongside
government funding. It will demonstrate
best practice at home and help us todeliver on our ambition to leadinternational action against thedegradation of habitats and loss of
species.

Actions we will take include:Working with our partners tolearn lessons from the existing
strategy, Biodiversity 2020, indeveloping our new strategy.

ii. Developing a Nature
Recovery Network
Through changes in the way we manage
our land, we will develop a Nature
Recovery Network providing 500,000
hectares of additional wildlife habitat,
more effectively linking existing protectedsites and landscapes, as well as urban
green and blue infrastructure.
Such a network will deliver on therecommendations from Professor Sir
John Lawton17: recovering wildlife will
require more habitat; in better condition;in bigger patches that are more closely
connected.
As well as helping wildlife thrive, theNature Recovery Network could bedesigned to bring a wide range ofadditional benefits: greater public
enjoyment; pollination; carbon capture;
water quality improvements and flood
management.

17

Sir John Lawton is author of Making Space for
Nature, 201058

25 Year Environment Plan
The network could contain a range ofland cover types, including new woodlandand coastal habitats. Other parts of the
network covering peatland, grassland or
scrub will lend themselves toenvironmentally sensitive farming andlivestock management, within a wider
patchwork of agricultural activity.
We will identify what a network could look
like and the steps that are needed tomake this happen. For example, we will
investigate putting in place up to 25 newcatchment or landscape scale nature
recovery areas to significantly expand
wildlife habitat. These would help build
resilience to climate change, and provide
opportunities for species and ecosystem
recovery, and for the reintroduction offormerly native species, as well as for
local community engagement andbusiness development.
We will look initially at opportunities fornature recovery through peatland
restoration, natural flood management
and woodland planting. We will also lookat establishing wildflower recovery areas.
This would make it easier for people tovisit flower-rich meadows, grasslands andheathland close to their homes. These
could be linked to new and existing green
infrastructure to extend wildlife corridors
into towns and cities, and provide
opportunities for conserving wildflowers
and insect pollinators.
We want to see local communities andbusinesses more involved. Data andmapping tools under development will
help us come up with proposals that offer
the maximum wildlife, economic andsocial gain.

Voluntary partnerships and private sector
sponsorship will help broaden the fundingbase for this exciting network. We will
also continue to work with partners
around our National Nature Reserves
encouraging wildlife to brim over andcolonise new sites.

Actions we will take include:

Investigating how we roll out aNature Recovery Network which
will provide an additional
500,000 hectares of wildlife
habitat building on other plans
for landscape-scale recovery forpeatland, woodlands and natural
flood management.

Considering how landscapescale restoration of wildflowerrich grassland, meadows andheathlands could be part of the
Nature Recovery Network toprovide better access for people
alongside improved habitat forpollinating insects.

Considering delivery options for
the Nature Recovery Network
over the next two years, as wedevelop and pilot our new
environmental land management
system and investigate the useof other new and innovative
funding mechanisms.



Evaluating the wider economic
and social benefits as wedevelop the network.

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25 Year Environment Plan

The role of landscape-scale restoration in recovering
natureA new Nature Recovery Network will require input from a range of stakeholders.
Benefits will extend beyond wildlife to recreation, carbon capture and water
management, attracting more support and securing a wider range of funding. We willdevelop maps and advice to show where actions to improve and restore habitats
would be most effective.
We can learn from previous initiatives that have delivered landscape-scale change.
Examples include Nature Improvement Areas; areas of up to 50,000 hectares whichbrought local groups together to improve both rural and urban environments, creating
new habitat for wildlife to thrive and ensuring people will enjoy them for generations
to come. Similar but smaller scale is the bottom-up farmer cluster concept, helping
farmers collectively deliver greater benefits for soil, water and wildlife at a landscapescale, developed by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust with Natural England.
Another interesting example is Sir Charles Burrell’s Knepp Estate, where he has
allowed free-roaming animals to shape the land into a mixture of habitats fromgrassland and scrub to open-grown trees and wood pasture. Turtle doves, rare bats,
2% of the UK’s population of nightingales and a vast population of purple emperor
butterflies now thrive there.
We will encourage dynamic management of nature to augment our network ofprotected sites. We will also build on opportunities for wildlife from peatland
restoration or woodland planting, and continue to work with partners around our
National Nature Reserves and other important sites, or on externally funded projects
such as the ‘Back from the Brink’ species recovery programme, to allow wildlife torecover, brim over and colonise new sites. The result will be an expanding patchworkof high value habitats, as well as sympathetically-managed farmland, woodland andurban greenspace.

Puffin (Photo: Laurence Fitt-Savage).

60

25 Year Environment Planiii. Providing opportunities forthe reintroduction of native
species
Conservation efforts to date have focusedon safeguarding our most precious or
threatened species. The condition ofprotected sites has started to improveover the last decade, and we have seensome of our threatened species start torecover.
However, we have still lost many formerly
native species from England - such as thewhite-tailed eagle, the orange-spottedemerald dragonfly and the beaver.

We will also provide opportunities for
species recovery and reintroduction as
we develop our Nature Recovery
Network. Natural England will continue towork with partners and local communities
on species reintroduction and recovery
projects that support nature conservationand help towards meeting economic andsocial goals.

Actions we will take include:

Developing and consulting in
2018/19 on a code and bestpractice guidance for assessing
the merits and risks of species
reintroduction projects, taking
account of their contribution to
global and domestic
conservation priorities,
community engagement andwider social and economic
impacts.



Publishing the code andguidance to sit alongside existing
international guidelines to informfuture funding and consenting
decisions on reintroduction
projects.

As well as lost species, others, such as
the pine martin, fen orchid or hen harrier,are found in only a few sites within theirformer range. Their reintroduction, whencarefully planned and managed, canenrich our natural environment andprovide wider benefits for people.
We will develop a code, building on
International Union for Conservation of
Nature guidelines18, to make sure
proposals provide clear economic orsocial benefit and are alive to any risk topublic, the environment or to business.

18

IUCN Guidelines for reintroductions and otherconservation translocations, International Union
for Conservation of Nature, 201361

25 Year Environment Plan

iv. Exploring how to giveindividuals and organisations
the chance to deliver lasting
conservation
We will assess the potential role ofconservation covenants to enablelandowners to create a legally-binding
obligation with respect to their land thatdelivers lasting, conservation benefits for
future generations.

v. Improving biosecurity toprotect and conserve nature
Ash trees are among more recent victimsof biosecurity hazards, proof of thedevastation that can be wreaked bydisease that spreads swiftly from country
to country. Ash dieback is a chronic
fungal disease that has already ravaged
ash trees across Europe, and could leadto the loss of over 90% of one of our mostcommon broadleaved trees.

Covenants would be overseen by a
responsible body to maintain standards,
and could allow landowners to protect
treasured features on their land such as
trees or woodland for purely altruistic
reasons. In some cases, they might also
be used in a business context to secure
the long-term maintenance of existing or
newly created wildlife or heritage assets.

Actions we will take include:

Following the Law Commission
report into conservation
covenants, assessing thedemand and potential for theseto secure long-term benefits frominvestment in nature
conservation and otherenvironmental outcomes, as wellas the need for safeguards.
Working with landowners,
conservation groups and otherstakeholders we will review andtake forward the Law
Commission’s proposals for a
statutory scheme of conservation
covenants in England.

Ash dieback disease - leaf desiccation, wilting andblackening caused by infection, contrasted withhealthy ash leaves (Photo: Forestry Commission /Ben Jones).

Disease outbreaks affect communities
and our ability to trade with othercountries, as well as harming animal
welfare. By strengthening biosecurity wecan better protect the nation’s animals,
cultivated crops, wild plants, trees andforests from pests and diseases.
Disease is not the only threat to nativeplant and animal species: invasive nonnative species can also cause them todecline. This can lead to the threat ofextinction, and costly and lasting damage
to the character of rare natural habitats.

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25 Year Environment Plan
The proliferation of invasive non-native
species can also prompt unwelcomechanges in the wider ecosystem thatclimate change might further exacerbate.
Quagga mussels are an example of asupremely successful invader. Thesefilter feeders multiply at such a rate thatthey strip phytoplankton and nutrientsfrom freshwater systems, significantly
altering the food web and habitat. They
also block pipes and filters, causing
problems that water companies must pay
to resolve. The zebra mussel, a similarly
invasive species, is now widespread
across England.

Zebra mussel (Photo: Paul Beckwith BWW)

Where it is not feasible to eradicate these
species because they are too widely
established, we will seek to neutralise
their threat by managing them effectively.

By adopting a policy of early and effective
intervention, we can save time andmoney, and spare the environment fromgreater impacts from breaches in biosecurity.The prompt eradication of theextremely invasive water primrose inGreat Britain, for example, is estimated toprovide a cost saving of approximately£240m compared to late stage
eradication.
Strengthening biosecurity aroundlivestock will mean healthier animals, andin turn more productive farming. This thenleads to a reduction in both greenhousegas emissions and the consumption of
antimicrobials: helping tackle the effects
of climate change and the risk ofantimicrobial resistance.
In following the recommendations madeby Lord O’Neill in the Independent
Review of Anti-Microbial Resistance, wehave already worked with industry to
reduce the use of antibiotics in animals,
achieving a 27% reduction in sales ofantibiotics for use in livestock and fish
farmed as food between 2014 and2016.19We already have in place strong
protections, including stringent bordermeasures. Our Plant Health Inspectors
consistently make more interceptions ofharmful organisms than in any other EU
Member State. Even so, the threats toplants and animal health is increasing,driven by the movement of goods andpeople.

19

Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales
Surveillance Report, Veterinary Medicines
Directorate, 201663

25 Year Environment Plan
In future we will continue to lead the way
internationally on tighter biosecurity. The
newly appointed Tree Champion will work
closely with Defra’s Chief Plant Health
Officer to drive the protection of tree
health across England. Our revised Plant
Health Biosecurity Strategy in 2020 will
set out the strategic framework to protect
plant health and we will continue todeliver the GB Invasive Non-native
Species Strategy (2015) in order toprotect natural capital in England frominvasive non-native species.
We will continue to take early, preemptive action based on evidence of athreat to stop pests and disease arriving
here.

Actions we will take include:

Developing plans to reduce therisk from all high priority
pathways for invasive non-native
species introduction into
England.



Working with partners to raiseawareness of invasive nonnative species and the need forstrong biosecurity.



Maintaining an alert system todetect high priority invasive nonnative species and implement
contingency plans to rapidly
eradicate them where feasible.



Engaging with industry as wedevelop proposals to drive
improvements in animal health.
We will work with the devolved
administrations and stakeholders
to develop policies.



Publishing a Tree HealthResilience Plan later in 2018 toprotect against tree pest anddiseases and improve resilienceof trees to withstand threats.

Working with industry to placebiosecurity at the centre ofbuying practices – including
encouraging the development ofa biosecure supply chain forwoodland creation.

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25 Year Environment Plan

2. Conserving andenhancing natural beauty
Some of England’s most beautiful
landscapes and geodiversity areprotected via a range of designations
including National Parks and Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).
Some landscapes are also internationallyrecognised through UNESCO World
Heritage Site and Global Geoparks
status (for example the Lake District,
the Cornwall and West Devon mining
landscape and the North Pennines).
Collectively, they comprise some of ourunique, most cherished and valuable
natural assets.

Over the next 25 years we want to makesure they are not only conserved but
enhanced. Many of the policies set out inthe rest of the Plan will contribute to
making all areas more beautiful. In thissection, we focus mainly on thedesignated areas.

i. Reviewing National Parks
and Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty
The UK’s first National Parks werecreated by an Act of Parliament in 1949
following the government’s 1947
Hobhouse Report, which remains thebasis for most protected landscapedesignation in England today.

Sunset at Newlands Corner within the Surrey Hills AONB (Photo: Rich Lukey).

65

25 Year Environment Plan
Now, 70 years on, the Government
will commission a review for the 21stCentury. This will consider coverage ofdesignations, how designated areas
deliver their responsibilities, howdesignated areas are financed, andwhether there is scope for expansion. It
will also consider opportunities toenhance the environment in existing
designations, and expand on the existingeight-point plan for National Parks toconnect more people with the naturalenvironment.

Actions we will take include:Commissioning a 21st Century‘Hobhouse’ Review of National
Parks and AONBs.

Working with National Park
Authorities to continue to deliver
the 8-Point Plan for National
Parks 2016-2020. National Park
Authorities have already met thetarget to engage directly withover 60,000 young people a yearin schools’ visits, and will double
this figure.

Working with National Park
Authorities and AONB
Partnerships and Conservation
Boards to deliver environmental
enhancement, including throughdemonstrator projects, andengaging with communities
through their statutory
management plans.



Identifying opportunities forenvironmental enhancement inall of England’s 159 National
Character Areas and monitoring
indicators of our landscape’s
character and quality to improvelandscapes for people, places
and nature.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Promoting landscape quality and natural beauty
Westmorland Dales Hidden Landscapes Project
The Westmorland Dales includes the largest area of limestone pavements in the UK
and is within the area that was designated as a further part of the Yorkshire Dales
National Park in 2016. Parts of the area are also designated as a Special Site of
Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve. It contains a uniqueassemblage of cultural heritage including a remarkably intact pattern of historic
settlements and associated earthworks, prehistoric stone circles, cairns, and burial
mounds. The Coast to Coast path and the Pennine Bridleway also cross the Dales.
The Westmorland Dales Hidden Landscapes project, located within the Yorkshire
Dales National Park, is an example of an approach which could be applied to thewider countryside or urban environments. It aims to engage the local community anddevelop skills, increasing understanding of the area’s significant natural and cultural
heritage.
Initial approval for a £3.5m grant to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage andlandscape of the Westmorland Dales has been given by the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HLF) through its Landscape Partnership programme. HLF funding is enabling
Friends of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority todevelop detailed plans with a wide range of partners. Initial ideas include grassland
restoration and woodland projects, flood mitigation and the safeguarding of importantarchaeological heritage. The goal is to engage people in the natural beauty andunique heritage of their local landscape.

Walkers on the Orton Fells (looking south to the Howgills), Westmorland Dales HLF project67

25 Year Environment Plan

3. Respecting nature in how we
use water
It is vital that we maintain sustainablesupplies of water for future generations.
We recognise that this will require both
reducing demand and increasing supply.

i. Reforming our approach towater abstraction
Abstraction is the process of taking
water from source, either temporarily or
permanently, with most being used for
irrigation or drinking water. Groundwatersupplies and rivers are refilled naturally
by rainfall and snow melt. If too muchwater is extracted too fast, supplies may
become depleted: ‘over-abstracted’.
Groundwater sources can, in somecases, take decades to recharge if they
are emptied.

Our indicators suggest that as many as
one-in-five of our surface waters areover-abstracted. This leads to physicalchanges that, along with other changes
we make to watercourses, risk reducing
the diverse range of plant and animal
life. While we will support abstractors toaccess the water they need to operate
efficiently, we will continue to amend
licences in cases of unsustainable
abstraction and support and encourage
innovation. One way of improving
access to water is to encourage water
trading and storage where it is needed
most, and we intend to reform ourapproach here. We aim to introduce
more low flow controls to protect theenvironment and replace seasonal
constraints to allow extra abstraction athigh flows.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will develop a stronger catchment
focus that brings together theEnvironment Agency, abstractors andcatchment partnerships to addressunsustainable abstraction and to
improve access to water. These local
solutions will be captured in updated
abstraction licensing strategies. To help
abstractors make the best use of waterand protect the environment we will
modernise the abstraction service toprovide real-time information on water
availability. We will report to Parliamentin 2019 on progress made on
abstraction reform. This will include
updates on these actions and theactions we have set out in our water
abstraction plan20

20

Actions we will take include:

Making sure that watercompanies take a leading role inaddressing unsustainable
abstraction as part of the Water
Industry National Environment
Programme, due in March 2018.



Regulating all significant
abstractions that have been
historically exempt to make surethat they also play a part inprotecting the water environment
by 2022.

Updating ten abstraction
licensing strategies by 2021 andall remaining strategies by 2027
to capture agreed solutions toenvironmental pressures incatchments.

Water abstraction plan 2017, Defra, 201769

25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Increasing water supply andincentivising greater water
efficiency and less personaluse
Water companies must develop andimplement robust long-term plans thatdevelop new water resources where
needed. New supplies will include large
infrastructure, such as reservoirs andwater transfers, which are needed tomake sure the water industry can provide
sufficient water for homes andbusinesses and reduce abstraction fromsome sources to protect the environment.
Two factors tend to affect demand on the
public water supply: efficiency of use andleakage control. Water companies musttake bold action to reduce water
demands, both now and for the future.
We want to see water use in England fall
- the average person currently consumes
140 litres per day. With the average bathusing around 80 litres and each flush ofan old-fashioned toilet using up to 13
litres, there is action we can take toensure we are using our water supply
most efficiently. We will work with theindustry to set an ambitious personal
consumption target and agree costeffective measures to meet it.
We also want to see the amount oftreated water lost through leakage
continue to fall, year-on-year. All watercompanies will need to match the levelsof leakage reduction achieved by thesector’s top performers.

Actions we will take include:Consulting in 2018 on a National
Policy Statement for water
resources that will streamline theplanning process for new large
infrastructure schemes, leading
to net environmental benefits, as
set out in the Industrial Strategy.

Working with the water industry
and its five-year businessplanning cycles to make sure it
puts in place long-term strategies
to increase resilience, andmanage supply and demand (forfurther details, please see ourstrategic steer to Ofwat).



Working with the industry andthe group led by the NGO
Waterwise to improve water
efficiency and customer
involvement to explore theimpact of introducing new water
efficiency measures.



Taking forward measures thatwill make significant watersavings where practical and costeffective to do so.



We will work with industry to
determine appropriate targets for
personal water consumption andthe measures needed to achieve
them.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 3: Connecting people with the environment toimprove health and wellbeing.
At a glance
We will: Help people improve their health and wellbeing by using green spaces including
through mental health services.
 Encourage children to be close to nature, in and out of school, with particular focus
on disadvantaged areas.
 ‘Green’ our towns and cities by creating green infrastructure and planting one
million urban trees.
 Make 2019 a year of action for the environment, working with Step Up To Serveand other partners to help children and young people from all backgrounds toengage with nature and improve the environment.

Spending time in the natural environment– as a resident or a visitor – improves ourmental health and feelings of wellbeing.
It can reduce stress, fatigue, anxiety anddepression. It can help boost immune
systems, encourage physical activity andmay reduce the risk of chronic diseases
such as asthma21. It can combat
loneliness and bind communities
together.

21

Evidence Statement on the links between
natural environments and human health,
University of Exeter and Defra, 2017; Urban green

A wide range of activity is under way tohelp people experience these benefits.
A number of outdoor sports and leisureorganisations, green space managers,
environmental organisations and schools
encourage people to participate inactivities in green spaces.
The forest school approach encourages
children to explore nature and have arelationship with the outdoors. The newscience and geography curriculum andqualifications encourage pupils toundertake fieldwork as part of theircourse of study.

spaces and health, World Health Organisation
Regional Office for Europe, 2016, 9-10.

71

25 Year Environment Plan
Farms in both rural and urban locations
host groups of school children and share
their knowledge about the environment
and where food comes from.

of contact with nature to promote goodmental health or support earlyinterventions for mental health problems
are often overlooked.

Some health professionals have adopted
a practice known as ‘green prescribing’, atype of social prescribing where naturebased interventions are used to treat
people with health conditions. Examples
of interventions include gardening,conservation, care farms22 and green
gyms.

This Plan sets out ways in which we will
make it easier for more people, fromevery background, to enjoy nature.

We are fortunate to have accessible
natural spaces in every county, mostly
free to enter, and a network of publicrights of way.

Our aim is for more people, from all
backgrounds, to engage with and spend
time in green and blue spaces in theireveryday lives. The Industrial Strategy
Grand Challenge for an Ageing Society
sets out our aim to help older citizens
lead independent fulfilled lives, continuing
to contribute to society. A thriving andhealthy environment is a vital part of this,and a powerful tool for combatting
isolation and loneliness.

One of the most ambitious ways we are
opening up the natural world is throughthe England Coast Path. When it iscomplete (by 2020) it will be the longest
such path in the world, giving hikers,
walkers and joggers public access rights
to foreshore, beaches, dunes and cliffs
for a distance of 2,700 miles.

1. Helping people improve theirhealth and wellbeing by using
green spaces

However, there is more to do. The
number of people who spend little or notime in natural spaces is too high. Recent
data from the Monitor of Engagementwith the Natural Environment survey tells
us that some 12% of children do not visit
the natural environment each year.
In the most deprived areas of England,
people tend to have the poorest healthand significantly less green space thanwealthier areas.

Different generations enjoying the Peak District(Photo: Pippa Langford).

In healthcare and school settings, anddespite some excellent examples ofpioneering practice, the possible benefits
22

Care farms are working farms that provide
health, social or educational care services forindividuals from one or a range of vulnerable
groups.

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25 Year Environment PlanThrough existing commitments made inSporting Future – a New Strategy for an
Active Nation, and in line with ourambition to reduce childhood obesity, theGovernment supports programmes thatencourage physical activity, including in
outdoor settings.
We will scope out how we could connect
people more systematically with green
space to improve mental health, using thenatural environment as a resource forpreventative and therapeutic purposes.
This will be in line with the Prevention
Concordat for Better Mental Health andsupport the Government’s newcommitments on children’s mental health.
Our ambition includes encouraging
mental health service providers to explore
the potential offered by environmental
therapies and doing more to spread theword about the benefits of nature. The
Government will promote collaboration
between the health and environment
sectors, at national and local level.

i. Considering how
environmental therapies could
be delivered through mental
health services
We will consider how NHS mental healthproviders in England can establish newworking arrangements with environmental
voluntary sector organisations to offer
appropriate therapies – such as
gardening, outdoor exercise and carefarming – in natural settings to people
with mild to moderate mental healthconditions and who may be struggling toovercome loneliness and isolation.
This work will build on the pioneering
work of South West Yorkshire Trust andthe Rotherham, Doncaster and South
Humber NHS Trust, working in
partnership with Voluntary Action
Rotherham, who have developed socialprescribing alongside traditional mental
health services. The Rotherham project
was recently shortlisted for a HealthService Journal award.

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25 Year Environment Plan
As part of a development of socialprescribing across England, specialistsocial prescribing teams could help toconnect patients with environmental
support. In support of this work, thePersonalised Care Group in NHS
England will explore how its own
universal model supports people who
would benefit from community andenvironmental programmes.

Actions we will take include:Considering how NHS mental
health providers in England
could work with environmental
voluntary sector organisations tooffer mental health therapies.



Sharing lessons learned fromexisting social prescribing
programmes widely so others
can adopt best practice.



Developing standardised tools
for service providers to support
the roll-out of social prescribing
across England. We will do thisby seed-funding a project, led by
The Conservation Volunteers
and supported by NHS England.

ii. Promoting health andwellbeing through the naturalenvironment
We will launch a three-year ‘Natural
Environment for Health and Wellbeing’
programme, focused on supporting local
authorities, health organisations, healthprofessionals, teachers and planners inpromoting the natural environment as apathway to good health and wellbeing.
Mental health problems and earlyinterventions will be an initial area ofinterest, however the programme will becharged with considering other healthissues, such as obesity, where children
and adults would benefit from better
access to nature. To make sure that itreaches as many people as possible, wewould welcome the programme being
replicated at local level. Ideally, we would
like access to the natural environment put
at the heart of all local Health andWellbeing Board strategies.

Actions we will take include:Establishing a crossgovernment alliance on
environment and health todesign and oversee the ‘Natural
Environment for Health andWellbeing’ programme.

Supporting the alliance toreview evidence, develop tools
and support local authorities,
commissioners, andprofessionals.

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25 Year Environment Plan

2. Encouraging children to beclose to nature, in and out ofschoolPlaying and learning outside is afundamental part of childhood, and helps
children grow up healthy. Some children
are lucky enough to have a family garden;others will not and it is important that we
find other ways to give them better
access to the great outdoors. We knowthat regular contact with green spaces,such as the local park, lake, or
playground, can have a beneficial impact
on children’s physical and mental health.
The initiatives we outline below aredesigned to encourage and support
outdoor activities, particularly where achild has no access to a family garden.
Government will make available £10m offunding to support these initiatives.

i. Helping primary schools
create nature-friendly grounds
We will launch a Nature Friendly Schools
Programme to help more communities
create the kind of school grounds that
support learning about the natural world
and also keep children happy andhealthy.
The government will provide support forschools in our most disadvantaged areasthat wish to create nature friendly
grounds and to design and run activities
that support pupil’s health and wellbeing
through contact with nature.

Actions we will take include:

Developing a Nature Friendly
Schools programme for schools
in our most disadvantaged
areas with input fromstakeholders that can be
opened to schools from autumn
2018.

Junior botanist - Castor Hanglands NNR near Peterborough (Photo: Justin Tilley).

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25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Supporting more pupil
contact with local natural
spacesWe want to make it easier for schools andPupil Referral Units to take pupils on trips
to natural spaces on a regular basis
where they can combine learning withfeeling healthier and happier. This might
involve class visits to a city farm, a local
nature reserve, woodland or National
Park. In cases of individual need, a pupil
might go to a care farm on a bespoke
itinerary.

Actions we will take include:23Developing a programme tosupport schools and Pupil
Referral Units in our mostdisadvantaged areas inestablishing progressive
programmes of nature contact
for their pupils, which can be
opened to schools fromautumn 2019.



Supporting the expansion ofschool outreach activities
delivered by community forests.

Supporting a national expansionof care farming by 2022, trebling
the number of places to 1.3m per
year for children and adults in
England.

This can include green infrastructure in new
developments, upgrading of existing green

3. Greening our towns andcitiesGreen and blue spaces in our built
environment are essential to health andhappiness. Yet urban greenspace isunequally distributed. The provision of
more and better quality green
infrastructure,23 including urban trees, will
make towns and cities attractive places tolive and work, and bring about key longterm improvements in people’s health.
Better green infrastructure will promotelocal social interaction and help todevelop strong community networks
through participation and sharedachievements.
We want to encourage more investment,in part by doing a better job of explaining
what ‘good’ green infrastructure actually
looks like. We will do this by defining a
set of standards in close consultation withstakeholders, including the Parks Action
Group.

Green and blue spaces in our built environment
are essential to health and happiness (Photo:
Forestry Commission / John McFarlane).

infrastructure and retro-fitting of new green
infrastructure in areas where provision is poor.

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25 Year Environment Plan

i. Creating more green
infrastructure
Our aim is to improve existing green
infrastructure by encouraging moreinvestment while making sure there is apresumption for sustainable development.
Initially, we will focus on areas where weknow that there is not enough accessible
green infrastructure, or that what is there
is of poor quality.
We will draw up a national framework ofgreen infrastructure standards, ensuringthat new developments include
accessible green spaces and that any
area with little or no green space can be
improved for the benefit of thecommunity. This will involve finding out
what local authorities, developers andother stakeholders think is mostimportant, and where good practice isbeing demonstrated. There is likely to besome cross-over with the work of theParks Action Group, whose members’
knowledge will be captured and shared.
Consistent with the Industrial Strategy wewill make sure the important contribution
made to economic growth by high-quality
environmental assets and green
infrastructure are taken into accountwhen we make decisions.

Actions we will take include:Supporting the Parks Action
Group in its work to help
England’s public parks andgreen spaces meet the needs ofcommunities now and in the
future.

Continuing our ground-breaking
work with Exeter University to
update the world-leading
Outdoor Recreation Valuation
Tool (ORVal) in 2018.



Establishing a cross-government
project, led by Natural England,that reviews and updates
existing standards for green
infrastructure by summer 2019.



Supporting Local Authorities toassess green infrastructure
provision against these newstandards.

Working with the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local
Government to see how ourcommitments on green
infrastructure can beincorporated into national
planning guidance
and policy.

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25 Year Environment Plan

ii. Planting more trees in andaround our towns and cities
Having more trees in and around ourtown and cities, close to where people
live and work, brings people closer tonature and improves air quality, withconsequent positive health impacts.
In urban areas, we will work withstakeholders to plant one million newtrees. This is in addition to the 11 million
trees we will plant across the country andwill help with a number of otherenvironmental challenges.
In determining our approach to meetingthe aspiration of 12% overall tree coverby 2060, we will consider how to bringwoodland creation closer to where people
live. We will review approaches such as
the National Forest Company (NFC) in
the East Midlands, in which local
authorities work to increase tree andwoodland cover and provide one-to-one
advice to landowners. The NFC model
has led to more than 8.5 million trees
being planted and has attracted over
£1bn of inward investment over the past
25 years.

One of the advantages of the NFC has
been that by planting in urban fringes
these woodlands have maximised thebeneficial value of public access andenjoyment. We will also draw on theexisting network of forests in and around
our largest towns and cities underEngland’s Community Forest programme,
which was set up in 1990 as a series ofpartnerships between local authorities,
the Forestry Commission and Natural
England.

Actions we will take include:Continuing to work withstakeholders to develop andimplement a programme to plant
one million trees in England’s
towns and cities by 2022.

Working with stakeholders todevelop and implement a manual
for local authorities and otherurban tree-planting organisations
to shape their procurement andmaintenance practices for urban
trees.



Introduce new requirements toensure councils properly consult
if they are considering removing
street trees.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Green infrastructure in urban areas
Urban residents prize the parks, playing fields, woods, street trees and footpaths thatmake their district an attractive place. People in greener surroundings have longer
and healthier lives. Green infrastructure brings wider benefits, including sequestering
carbon, absorbing noise, cleansing pollutants, absorbing surface water and reducing
high temperatures. The number and condition of green spaces has declined andcurrent investment is confined to specific projects. We risk losing more good quality
green spaces.
As we build more homes, preserving and creating green spaces in towns is more
important than ever. Local authorities and developers need to take account of all thebenefits when deciding how much land to allocate as green space.
The Canal & River Trust, supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and People’s
Postcode Lottery, successfully implemented a three-year ‘Community Roots’
partnership project around the Huddersfield Narrow and Rochdale canals to
encourage more visitors. Local people, many of whom do not normally visit thecanals, took part in creating art trails, paddle boarding, healthy walks and angling
tasters, as well as ecological surveys, canal clean-ups and dredging. Now the canals
are cleaner and more attractive. The project attracted more than 1,200 new
volunteers, many of which now have new conservation skills.

Out and about in the Mersey Forest (Photo: Ian Southerin)

The Mersey Forest programme in the North West is creating green spaces. As
England’s largest Community Forest, the Mersey Forest partnership have planted
more than nine million trees creating a 1,300km² network of woodlands, open
spaces, urban gardens and street trees in some of the most disadvantaged areas ofMerseyside and Cheshire. Its planting schemes deliver a wide range of benefits
including increased flood resilience, enhanced biodiversity and improved health andwellbeing for local people. Its award winning ‘Nature4Health’ programme encourages
local communities at risk of developing health problems such as diabetes, obesity or
depression, to get out into the Forest through conservation activities, mindful walking
and forest schools, significantly improving their physical and mental health.

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4. Making 2019 a year of action
for the environment
Our goal is to see more people from all
backgrounds involved in projects toimprove the natural world. We will make2019 a year of action for the environment,
putting children and young people at its
heart. This year of green action will
provide a focal-point for organisations
that run environmental projects, and willencourage wider participation.
Evidence suggests that while many
people are already keen to get out there
and help the environment, we should aim
for many more to do so. Among younger
people alone, and across all kinds ofsocial action, the government-funded
National Youth Social Action survey of
2016, found that in a group of 10-20 year
olds, 42% of young people participated inmeaningful social action, whilst another
42% took no part in social action24.

24

Defined in the National Youth Social Action
Survey 2016 as ‘practical action in the service ofothers to create positive change’ and covers awide range of activities that help other people ori. Helping children and young
people from all backgrounds toengage with nature andimprove the environment
Working with Step Up to Serve, #iwill
campaign partners, and other youth andenvironmental partners, we will develop
an environment theme for the #iwill
campaign in 2019 (the 2018 theme ishealth, linked to the 70th anniversary of
the NHS).

Drawing leaves (Photo: Forestry Commission /John McFarlane).

the environment, such as fundraising,campaigning, tutoring/mentoring and giving time
to charity.

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25 Year Environment Plan
The #iwill campaign is a movement led by
all sectors that by 2020 aims to makeinvolvement in meaningful social action apart of life for all 10-20 year olds. We will
work with partners from theenvironmental and youth sectors topromote environmental opportunities that
attract young people from all
backgrounds. As part of this, we will workwith the National Citizen Service (NCS)
Trust, to enable more participants to havecontact with and improve naturalenvironments both during the NCS
experience and afterwards.
We will engage young people in thedesign of this programme. Legacy
partnerships will sustain opportunities foryoung people to engage with theenvironment into the future.
In 2019 a wide range of engagement
activities will be planned to coincide withthe 70th anniversary of National Parks
and the centenary of the Forestry
Commission.

Actions we will take include:In partnership with Step Up toServe, supporting the 2019 #iwill
environment-themed year, withdesign input from young people.



Evaluating progress in increasing
young people’s environmentalsocial action, including #iwill
campaign activity in 2019, andsharing lessons to sustain goodpractice.

At the same time, exploring withyouth sector partners thepotential for piloting a naturalenvironment programme withyouth groups that encourages
use of natural environments
through social action. This would
aim to reach more young people
from disadvantaged
backgrounds.

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ii. Supporting the 2019 year ofgreen action
Government will build on the 70th
anniversary of National Parks and thecentenary of the Forestry Commission
and #iwill campaign activities in 2019 toencourage adults and children to takepositive steps to help the naturalenvironment. We will focus on the simple
things that people can do, and how these
also support good health.
A series of public engagement activities
for 2019 will link to initiatives on waste
reduction, cleaner air or other aspects ofpro-environmental behaviour. We will lookto get the business community andvoluntary sectors involved in these
activities, and urge them, with theeducation sector, to develop their own
initiatives throughout the year to engage
communities and raise awareness.

Actions we will take include:Drawing together targeted
activities to make it easier for
people to get involved in
improving the natural world andspread the word about
environmental issues.

Working with partners from thebusiness and voluntary sectors
to make these activities happen.

Scoping out an evidence-based
behaviour change strategy toenable further actions by
individuals, communities,businesses and government
beyond 2019.

We expect 2019 to be the foundation of afive-year programme that will help turnthe commitments in this 25 Year
Environment Plan into action.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 4: Increasing resource efficiency andreducing pollution and waste
At a glance
We will: Make sure that resources are used more efficiently and kept in use for longer tominimise waste and reduce its environmental impacts by promoting reuse,remanufacturing and recycling.
 Work towards eliminating all avoidable waste by 2050 and all avoidable plastic
waste by end of 204225.
 Reduce pollution by tackling air pollution in our Clean Air Strategy and reduce theimpact of chemicals.

Dealing with waste and pollution costs
businesses and householders millions ofpounds each year and causes significant
environmental and wildlife damage.
Pollution is a form of waste that pervades
the environment: the atmosphere, water,
land and oceans.
Over the next 25 years, we mustsignificantly cut all forms of pollution andease the pressure on the environment.
We must ensure that noise and light
pollution are managed effectively.

25

We need to stop producing so muchwaste in the first place. We can do this bybeing more ‘resource efficient’, which not
only eases pressure on the environmentand our stocks of natural resource but
reduces costs too, boosting productivity.
Sustainable growth can go hand in handwith less waste and a smarter use ofresources. We know that well-designed
and delivered regulation, taxes andcharges contribute to cleaner growth: thelandfill tax has been instrumental in
reducing the amount of waste dumped in
the ground by 44% since 2000. The
aggregates levy has hugely incentiviseduse of recycled aggregate.

Avoidable means what is Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We must also ensure that we are notsimply exporting waste to other countries.
Better intelligence about criminal activity
and targeted inspections are estimated tohave cut illegally-exported electrical andhousehold waste from England by 17%
between 2014 and 2016, saving the UK
economy £2.75m over the two years.26
We will improve and develop our
regulatory framework so that it provides
strong environmental protection andstandards while promoting economic
growth: providing certainty for investment,
stimulating markets and innovation, andsetting a baseline for all.

1. Maximising resource
efficiency and minimising
environmental impacts at endof life.
We are committed to working towards ourgoal of zero avoidable waste by 2050 anddoubling resource productivity over the
lifetime of this Plan. In order to do this,and to maximise the value we get fromour resources during their lifetime, weneed to look at their whole life-cycle –from production, to usage and what we
do with them at the end of their lives. We
have committed to develop a newnational Resources and Waste strategy toachieve this.
Our Industrial Strategy promotes themove towards a regenerative, circular
economy. The economy exists within thenatural world, and cannot be separated
from it.

Energy and materials are essential
contributions to the production of goods
and services, and a healthy economy
depends on a healthy environment. We
want more efficient production processes
and better designed products that reduce
waste (cutting material costs) and use
recycled/reused materials wherever
possible.

We want products that reduce waste and use
recycled/reused materials wherever possible.

We need to make data more available tosupport processes such as industrial
symbiosis – i.e. where two or moreindustrial facilities or companies join up
and the wastes or by-products of one
become the raw materials of another. We
must also develop business models thatchallenge inefficient production practiceand on this we will work with industry to
explore options for making waste tracking
data universally digitised.
We are committed to supporting
comprehensive and frequent waste andrecycling collections which protect local
amenity and ensure that products arerecycled as much as possible, returninghigh quality materials back to theeconomy.

26

Regulating for people, the environment andgrowth, Environment Agency, 201784

25 Year Environment Plan
This will help stimulate internal UK
markets and support strong secondary
materials markets as well as exports
abroad.
The government will shortly set out plans
for a Bioeconomy Strategy which willbuild on the UK’s strengths to ensure wecan develop a world-class bio-based
economy by removing our dependence
on finite fossil resources. Bioscience andbiotechnology has the potential to create
new solutions that are economically andenvironmentally sustainable as well as
resource-efficient.
This will not only increase productivity but
will also enable clean growth across all
our towns, cities and communities

Actions we will take include:

Publishing a new Resources andWaste strategy in 2018 aimed atmaking the UK a world leader inresource efficiency. It will set out
our approach to reducing waste,
promoting markets for secondary
materials, incentivisingproducers to design better
products and how we can better
manage materials at the end oflife by targeting environmental
impacts.

As a package, these actions will see us
manage resources more sustainably anddivert more waste away from landfill,
reducing the associated environmental
impacts.

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25 Year Environment Plan

i. Achieving zero avoidable
plastic waste by end of 2042
Plastic is an incredibly versatile material
that forms a key component of many
products we use today. As a packaging
material, it is safe, secure, hygienic andcheap. It is tough and long-lasting, which
is why it is also a disaster for theenvironment. Production of most virginplastics requires fossil fuels, and when
we have finished with them, they are
difficult to dispose of in a way that does
not harm the natural world.
It is estimated that 8.3 billion tonnes ofplastic have been produced since the1950s 27. Without urgent action to cut
demand, this is likely to be 34 billion
tonnes by 2050, the majority of which will
end up in landfill or polluting the world’s
continents and oceans. In the UK alone,
during its recent Great British Beach
Clean Up the Marine Conservation
Society found 718 pieces of litter for
every 100m stretch of beach surveyed. Of
this, rubbish from food and drink made up
at least one fifth.

Urgent action to reduce plastic waste in
the marine and open environment isneeded and is vital for the future of ourplanet and a considerable economic
opportunity, including for developing
countries that stand to benefit from moreproductive land, healthier seas, andecotourism.
Re-using and recycling plastics is critical,
and also reduce our reliance on fossil
fuels for the production of virgin plastics.
These changes would also stem thedamaging flow of plastics into theenvironment, where they devastate
wildlife and the wider naturalenvironment. Reducing the plastic flow
into our seas would also reduce the riskof toxins being transferred up the foodchain. To address this issue we will work
to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste
over the lifetime of this Plan through afour point plan taking action at each stageof the product lifecycle – production,
consumption and end of life.

Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever
made, Geyer, et al. Science Advances. Vol 3,
no.7, 20172786

25 Year Environment Plan

Actions we will take include:

Looking across the whole
lifecycle, launching a call forevidence in 2018 seeking views
on how the tax system or
charges could reduce theamount of single use plastics
waste.



Building on our microbeads ban
by exploring whether we can ban
other problematic materials
where suitable alternatives exist.

Analysis by Innovate UK showsthat we have invested
approximately £54m of publicresearch and developmentmoney on plastics innovation in
the past seven years but wemust accelerate the pace of
research to ensure a higher
proportion of plastic is re-usable,
recyclable and recycled and that
British companies are at theforefront in developing thistechnology – a key ambition of
the Clean Growth Grand
Challenge. We will therefore
work with BEIS, Innovate UK,
Research Councils and industry
to bring forward a bid for the next
round of Industrial Strategy
Challenge Fund awards later in2018 to help develop a pipelineof new, more sustainable
materials that will have a lower
environmental impact.

Encouraging the development of
bio-based, biodegradable andenvironmentally-friendly plastic
through the Bioeconomy
Strategy.

1. At the production stage, we willencourage producers to takemore responsibility for theenvironmental impacts of theirproducts and rationalise thenumber of different types ofplastic in use by:Working with industry torationalise packaging formats
and materials formats to makesure that more plastics can beeasily recycled and the quality ofcollected recycled plastics is
improved.



Reforming our Producer
Responsibility systems (including
packaging waste regulations) to
incentivise producers to takegreater responsibility for theenvironmental impacts of theirproducts. This will include
exploring extending producer
responsibility requirements toplastic products not currently
covered by our existing regimes
to create a better market forrecycled plastic.

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25 Year Environment Plan

2. At the consumption stage, wewill reduce the amount of plastic
in circulation through reducing
demand for single-use plastic by:

Removing all consumer single
use plastics from the central
government estate offices.



Extending uptake of the highly
successful 5p plastic bag charge
to small retailers, exploring
whether compulsory options areneeded if voluntary agreements
prove ineffective.

Supporting water companies,
high street retailers, coffee shops
and transport hubs to offer new
refill points for people to top-up
water bottles for free in every
major city and town in England.
The water industry plans tocreate a nationwide network ofrefill points, and an app to help
people find the nearest place torefill their bottles with water freeof charge.
Working with retailers and the
Waste and Resources Action
Programme (WRAP) to explore
introducing plastic-freesupermarket aisles in which all
the food is loose.

3. At the end of use stage, we will
make it easier for people torecycle by:Continuing to support theindustry led on-pack recycling
labelling system and encourage
all brands and retailers to use
this systems to provide
information to householders.



Continuing to implement the
Litter Strategy to reduce plastic
litter and littering behaviour.

Implementing voluntary andregulatory interventions that cancut the amount of commonly
littered items, and improverecycling and packaging reuse.
This includes considering advice
from the Voluntary & Economic
Incentives Working group (set up
under the Litter Strategy), which
is currently looking at measures
to reduce littering and promote
recycling of drinks containers.

4. At the end of life/waste
management stage, we will
improve the rate of recyclingThrough the Framework forGreater Consistency, WRAP is
working with industry and local
authorities to ensure that a
consistent set of materials arecollected by all local authorities.
We want to accelerate this shift
to consistency in the materials
collected.

Working with the waste
management industry and reprocessors to significantly
increase the proportion of plastic
packaging that is collected andrecycled.

8825 Year Environment Plan

We will work with the ResearchCouncils to help develop astandard for biodegradable
plastic bags as part of emerging
work on a national Bioeconomy
Strategy (while also recognising
the need to avoid microplastics
pollution).

Collaborative industry action:

WRAP is working to develop a
new cross-sector (business,government and NGOs)
commitment to tackle plastic
waste. This will align with theEllen MacArthur Foundation’s
New Plastic Economy and havean initial focus on plastic
packaging.

Demonstrating international
leadership:28

We will do more to help
developing nations tackle
pollution and reduce plastic
waste, including through UK aid.

Work through the UN, G7 andG20 to tackle marine plastics
pollution at an international level.

Work with the International
Maritime Organization to address
the control and prevention of
ship-source pollution.

ii. Reducing food supply chain
emissions and waste
The Government is working to make theway we eat and drink in this country moresustainable. The aim is to cut by one fifth
the greenhouse gas intensity of food anddrink consumed in the UK, and also percapita UK food waste by 2025. This will
set the UK on a path to meet an evenmore ambitious UN target – halving per
capita global food waste at retail andconsumer levels by 2030.
The work is being done through The
Courtauld Commitment 2025, a boldvoluntary agreement involvingorganisations along the agri-food supply
chain from producer to consumer. The
commitment addresses key issues,
including reducing waste from consumers
by for example rolling out guidance on
applying ‘Use By’ dates only where there
is a food safety reason to use it, andlooking across supply chains to findefficiencies. Reductions achieved will bemeasured using global best practicemethodology.28
Contracting parties – including foodbusinesses and local authorities – arealso guided by elements of the Plan for
Public Procurement and Catering
Services, including the ‘balanced
scorecard’ which ranks a range of
relevant criteria (sustainability inproduction, health and nutrition, resource
efficiency, social-economic value andso on).

Courtauld Commitment, 2025

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25 Year Environment Plan
These criteria will help to deliver realenvironmental improvements, including
entrenching UK production standards,
reducing food waste, encouraging theuse of seasonal fresh produce andencouraging menus to identify andcelebrate the provenance of the foodon offer.
Recycling food waste is also a key
priority. We will work towards no foodwaste entering landfill by 2030. Many
local authorities have introduced separate
collection of food waste and we will work
to support an increase in numbers so thatthe amount of food waste sent to landfill
continues to decline. We will also takeaction to support the redistribution of
unsold edible and nutritious surplus stockfrom food businesses to individuals in
need. As a starting point, WRAP
announced at the end of last year a new£0.5m fund for charities who redistributesurplus food from food businesses tothose in need.

Actions we will take include:Continuing to work closely with
WRAP, food businesses, local
authorities and otherorganisations to meet Courtauld
2025.



Ensuring that as food andcatering contracts come up for
renewal, central government
departments and their agencies
adopt the balanced scorecard
approach to deliver benefits tothe environment, consumers andbusinesses alike.



Funding for charities who
redistribute surplus food fromfood businesses to those inneed.

Recycling food waste is also a key priority (Illustration: WRAP).

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25 Year Environment Planiii. Reducing litter and littering
The Litter Strategy for England sets out
our aim to clean up the country and cut
both litter and littering behaviours bymeans of better education, enforcementand ‘binfrastructure’ (the design, number
and location of public litter bins and soon).
The Litter Strategy also sets out acompelling economic case for all
businesses to invest in anti-litter activities– perhaps by adopting voluntarymeasures that aim to increase recycling
and reduce litter, or through productdesign, behavioural research andinvestment in campaigns. We will also
work with relevant industries to tackle
particular red flags such as discarded
fast-food packaging, smoking-related litterand chewing gum.
We will deliver a new national anti-litter
campaign and work on developing aculture that teaches young people not tolitter.
We will take stronger action against those
who litter. Subject to parliamentary
approval, new regulations will givecouncils outside London the power to finekeepers of vehicles from which litter isthrown, and we have laid new regulations
to increase fixed penalties for littering andrelated offences. We will provide
improved guidance on the appropriate
and proportionate use of these powers,
and encourage councils to be transparent
about enforcement activity.

Finally, we will seek to improve theinfrastructure in place for people todispose of litter. Working with Highways
England we will tackle litter on theStrategic Road Network and update theCode of Practice on Litter and Refuse toclarify expected standards. We willproduce new guidance on ‘binfrastructure’
to help local areas reduce levels of litter,as set out in our Litter Strategy for
England. We are committed toencouraging the use of behaviouralinsights to develop and test new ways toreduce litter. We have also launched anew ‘litter innovation fund’ to pilot andevaluate small scale local research
projects that have the potential for wider
application.

Actions we will take include:
We will continue to implement theGovernment’s Litter Strategy for
England, including:Introducing new regulations toimprove local authorities’
enforcement powers, supported
by new guidance on its
proportionate use.



Developing a national antilittering campaign, led by thegovernment and funded by theprivate sector.

Distributing a £450,000 litter
Innovation Fund to pilot,
implement and evaluate small
scale local research projects that
could be replicated more widely.

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Tackling marine litter
Turtles choke on plastic bags because they mistake them for a jellyfish. Dolphinsdrown, tangled up in discarded plastic packaging. Albatrosses somehow find floating
rice bags in the furthest reaches of the South Atlantic, far from human populations,and unwittingly feed them to their hungry chicks on the island of South Georgia.
Millions of single-use bottles jostle their way around the oceans, carried on thecurrents even to the remotest and most fragile Pacific atolls. Latest estimatessuggest that around 12 million tonnes of plastics enter the oceans each year.29 The
annual cost of marine plastic pollution is estimated to be at least $4.7 billion to theconsumer goods industry alone.30
The UK is committed to leading efforts to protect the marine environment. To tackle
marine pollution, we will pursue a sustainable, international and transboundary
approach that prioritises reducing global reliance on plastics, increases economically
viable recycling processes, and promotes maritime practices that prevent harmful
matter entering the seas.

An estimated 12 million tonnes of plastics enter the oceans each year (Photo: Surfers against sewage)

Tackling marine litter requires coordinated global and regional strategies. At present,
more is needed to enforce existing programmes, regulations and standards at every
level.
In many cases, better waste management on land will prevent waste reaching thesea – this is why we need a joint land/marine approach. We need more information
on what works well in terms of preventative measures and what will fundamentallychange human behaviour.

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Better waste collection and management, together with a more sustainable plastics
life cycle, are key to solving the issue. Since plastic marine litter presents significant
risks to business, the private sector can play a major role in addressing it. It alsopresents opportunities: at present, $80-120 billion in annual economic value is lost to
the global economy because single-use plastic packaging is not captured afteruse31/32.
Solutions to the marine plastics problem range from industry innovations andgovernment regulations to partnerships between stakeholders. Recent examples ofgovernment actions include the 5p plastic bag charge and the ban on the
manufacture and sale of rinse-off personal care products containing microbeads.
The challenge is how to scale up these efforts. We will work with waste management
services and producers to support policies that deliver high quality and quantity
recycling, minimise environmental impact and ensure well-functioning secondary
material markets (the use of recycled material in preference to virgin raw materials).
This will allow us to divert more waste from landfill, manage resources moresustainably and design products that promote a more resource efficient economy.
More detail will be set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy.
We should be bold not only about plastics but also about other marine pollution andmuster international support for action. We will promote the use of port reception
facilities and champion laws which concern dumping wastes and other matter at sea.
Finally, we should prioritise, where feasible, a clean-up of the marine environment
where litter poses a threat to human health, biodiversity, wildlife or sustainable use
without harm to associated ecosystems, as agreed at the 2017 United Nations
Environment Assembly – Toward a pollution free planet.

29 Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean, Ocean Conservancy & McKinsey Center for

Business and Environment, 2015
30 Plastics and Sustainability: A Valuation of Environmental Benefits, Costs and Opportunities for Continuous

Improvement, Trucost, 2016
31 The New Plastics Economy — Rethinking the future of plastics, World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundationand McKinsey & Company, 2016
32 The ocean economy’s output is measured in terms of the ocean based industries’ contribution to economic output andemployment. Source: The trillion dollar ocean, OECD, 2016 Insights: Jolly, C. and Stevens, B

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iv. Improving management ofresidual waste
Since 2000 we have diverted significant
quantities of residual waste – i.e. wastethat cannot be reused or recycled – fromlandfill through the development ofenergy from waste (EfW) facilities. These
generally recover energy from the waste
to produce electricity. In 2016/17, some
38% of waste collected by Local
Authorities went to EfW compared with
16% that went to landfill. More can bedone however. We want to make surethat materials ending up in the residual
waste stream are managed so that theirfull value as a resource is maximised andthe impact on the environment of treatingthem is minimised.
We will continue to encourage operators
to maximise the amount of energy
recovered from residual waste while
minimising the environmental impact ofmanaging it, for example by utilising theheat as well as electricity produced. The
actions set out in this Plan will help us
build on this to ensure that the value ofresidual waste as a resource is fully
realised and that emissions of carbon
dioxide during the energy recovery
process are kept as low as possible. We
must bear in mind that any infrastructure
must be able to adapt to future changes
in the volume and make-up of residual
waste generated and developments intechnology. That way, waste is not locked
into residual waste treatment processes
when it could be reused or recycled.

Actions we will take include:

Exploring different infrastructure
options for managing residual
waste beyond electricity,
including the production of
biofuels for transport andemerging innovativetechnologies.



Looking at ways to increase theuse of heat produced at waste
facilities through better
connections to heat networks.
The facilities will become more
efficient and emit less carbon
dioxide.



Investigating ways to cut carbon
dioxide emissions from EfW
facilities by managing theamount of plastics in the residual
waste stream. We will link thiswith any opportunities to recycle
more plastics or reduce theamount used.

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25 Year Environment Plan

v. Cracking down on fly-tippers
and waste criminals
Waste crimes have a long-term impact on
the natural environment – they pollute air,water and land. Fly-tipping and poorly-run
waste sites lead to problems with fumes,
dust, vermin and insect infestations.
Furthermore, waste fires can causesignificant disruption to roads, railways
and schools, making lives a misery.
The Environmental Services Association(ESA) estimated that waste crime cost
the UK economy between £568m and£808m in 2013; in 2015, it cost the
English economy at least £604m. It
undermines legitimate businesses, evadetaxes and run up clearing-up costs for the
public sector running into millions ofpounds. The cost to local authorities ofclearing fly-tipped waste was £57.7m33 in
2016/17; these figures do not take in thecost borne by other landowners forced todeal with illegal waste disposal.

Actions we will take include:Seeking to eliminate waste crimeand illegal waste sites over the
lifetime of this Plan, prioritisingthose of highest risk.

Working with industry to explore
options to introduce electronic
tracking of waste.



As part of our Resources andWaste Strategy, to be publishedin 2018, developing a new
strategic approach to prevent,detect and deter waste crime.

Taking a partnership approach todeal with the issue with industry,
regulators and local authorities.

33

Fly-tipping statistics for England, Defra, 201795

25 Year Environment Plan

vi. Reducing the impact ofwastewater
If it is not properly collected and treated,
wastewater (i.e. water from residential
premises, industrial wastewater andcontaminated rainwater) causes harm to
the water environment.
In its strategic policy statement to Ofwat,
the government makes it clear that we
expect the regulator to challenge waterand sewerage companies to improve theway they manage wastewater to meet theneeds of customers while protecting theenvironment. For example, the Thames
Tideway Tunnel, a brand-new 15-milelong ‘super-sewer’ now being built, will
help clean up the River Thames in
London by capturing the large volumes ofsewage pollution that currently overflow
into it each year from the over-stretchedsewer system.

Actions we will take include:Working with industry to create amore robust wastewater planningand investment process that will
help provide better outcomes forboth customers and theenvironment.

Continue to support the Thames
Tideway Tunnel project toachieve significant environmental
benefits allowing the River
Thames’s biodiversity to flourish.

We expect companies to provide robust
and transparent plans for the 2019 pricereview using the available outputs fromthe Water UK-led 21st Century Drainage
Programme and the emerging long-termplanning methodology for drainage andwastewater management plans. These
will provide a clear framework forengagement and consultation with key
stakeholders and help deliver lasting
resilient plans that provide clear benefits
for customers and the environment.

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25 Year Environment Plan

2. Reducing pollution
We know that people who live in city
centres and near busy roads – often
those on the lowest incomes in society –are most likely to be exposed todangerous levels of air pollution.
Epidemiological studies reveal that longterm exposure to this kind of pollution
reduces life-expectancy, mainly throughan increased risk of mortality fromcardiovascular and respiratory conditions,and lung cancer.
We have long been at the forefront of
global efforts to reduce pollution andimprove air quality. The first Clean Air
Act, in 1956, had a significant impact on
pollution in our towns and cities,
relegating ‘peasouper’ smogs to history.
Our integrated approach to tackling
pollution from industry – ensuring industry
adopted the best practices available;
involving industry in developing highstandards – was truly innovative and has
proved effective in reducing emissions.
Our international partners have since
adopted and built upon this approach.
The quality of our air has also significantly
improved owing to our tough regulatory
frameworks. Emissions of sulphur dioxidealone have fallen by nearly 95% since1990. Stringent pollution limits haveprompted industry to invest in cleaner
processes and abatement technology.
Fuels and products have beenreformulated to reduce emissions at
source. There has been a welcome shift
in fuel use away from coal towards
cleaner forms of energy.
The UK’s determination to improve air
quality is reinforced by our commitment tomeeting ambitious, legally-binding targets
to cut emissions of five pollutants –ammonia, nitrogen oxides, non-methane
volatile organic compounds, fineparticulate matter and sulphur dioxide –by 2020 initially, and by 2030 for a deeper
cut. Our commitment to meeting these
legally binding targets is not affected by
the UK’s departure from the EU.
Our goal is for everyone to tread more
lightly on the natural environment. To
achieve this we will need to expand on
many of the initiatives set out in the Clean
Growth Strategy.
To manage the risks of chemicals andpromote their safe production, transport
and use, the chemicals industry is subject
to a number of regulations to address
potential impacts on both human healthand the environment. Despite the rapid
growth in this industry these processes
are recognised as providing effective
controls and measures to prevent harmful
substance release in the UK.
The UK is a signatory to four multilateralenvironmental agreements (MEAs) where
we are active participants, working
towards achieving our goals whilst also
supporting developing nations. By
maintaining comprehensive emissions
inventories we can demonstratesignificant declines since 1990 of many
harmful substances, including mercury
and all persistent organic pollutantsbanned under the Stockholm Convention.
We need to seek more ways to tackle therelease of harmful substances in our air,water and land.
To tackle air pollution we are alreadytaking action to target both businesses
and individuals. We are bringing forward
legislation to cut industrial emissions frommedium combustion plants and97

25 Year Environment Plan
generators. At present, these are
significant but largely unregulated
sources of air pollution. We are also
working with Local Authorities and others
to advise householders about the impactof the domestic burning of wood andhouse coal – which together account fornearly 40%34 of total emissions of harmful
particulates that can cause heart and lungdamage. In September 2017, the ‘readyto burn’ wood certification scheme waslaunched. This industry initiative
supported by Defra persuades people tomove away from wet, unseasoned woodto ‘ready to burn’ wood, which can halve
emissions from this source.

We also announced that we will end thesale of new conventional petrol and diesel
cars and vans by 2040. We published ourplan to tackle roadside nitrogen dioxide
concentrations, and have made £475m of
new money available to support local
authorities with the biggest pollution
problems to tackle hotspots in their areas– part of a wider £3.5bn spending
commitment to air quality and cleaner
transport.

Future of Mobility Grand Challenge
The transport sector is responsible for around 40% of the UK's final energy use, andcontributes to local air quality issues. Through our ‘Future of Mobility’ Grand
Challenge, announced in the Industrial Strategy, we will become a world leader inshaping the future of mobility, including the low carbon transport of the future.
We have identified four early priorities:
 Establishing a flexible regulatory framework to encourage new modes oftransport and new business models.
 Seizing opportunities and addressing the challenges of moving fromhydrocarbon to zero emission vehicles.
 Preparing for a future of new mobility services, increased autonomy, journeysharing and a blurring of the distinctions between private and public
transport.
 Exploring ways to use data to accelerate the development of new mobility
services and enable the more effective operation of our transport system.

34

National Atmospheric Emission Inventory,
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy, 201598

25 Year Environment Plani. Publishing a Clean Air
Strategy
We will publish a new Clean Air Strategy
for consultation in 2018. This will set out
how we will continue to seek
improvements to public health, protect theenvironment, support clean growth, andwork towards our legally-binding ceilingson UK emissions of air pollution. It will
include looking at approaches to improve
how farmers use fertilisers and reduceammonia emissions to the air. It will set
out how over the long term we will work
towards a shift away from using solid
fuels to heat people's homes, to reduce
air quality pollution.
We will review the strategy regularly andreport publicly on our progress in
reducing national emissions of air
pollution.

Actions we will take include:

Publishing a Clean Air Strategy
in 2018.



Exploring options to address
pollution from coal and wet
wood.



Applying sulphur standards tosmokeless fuels.

ii. Curbing emissions fromcombustion plants andgenerators
Medium-sized combustion plants (MCPs),
which are used to generate heat for large
buildings and for power generation, are alargely unregulated source of emissionsof air pollutants. It is important that wecontrol their impact on the environment.
Similarly, the recent rapid growth of lowcost, small scale flexible power
generators poses significant risks without
appropriate controls. These generators
are often fuelled by diesel and emit highlevels of nitrogen oxides, posing a threat
to both local and national air quality.
We are taking forward legislation to tackle
emissions from medium-sized
combustion plants and generators. This
will provide an estimated 43% of thesulphur dioxide emissions reduction, 9%of the reduction for particulate matter, and
22% of the nitrogen oxides emissions
reduction required to meet our targets for2030. Additionally these controls willcontribute to reducing urban nitrogendioxide concentrations.

Actions we will take include:Legislating to set limits on thelevels of air pollutants that MCPs
and generators can emit.

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25 Year Environment Planiii. Publishing a Chemicals
Strategy
Chemicals provide substantial benefits tosociety but their widespread use inindustry, agriculture, food systems andhomes has led in some cases to pollutionof land, water, air and food. We will
publish a new Chemicals Strategy totackle chemicals of national concern thatwill build on existing approaches. This
new strategy will set our priorities foraction and detail how we will achieve ourgoals. It will support collaborative work on
human biomonitoring, address
combination effects of different chemicals
and improve the way we track chemicals
across supply chains.

Actions we will take include:

Publishing an overarching
Chemicals Strategy to set out
our approach as we leave theEU.

Exploring options to consolidate
monitoring and horizon-scanningwork to develop an early warning
system for identifying emerging
chemical issues.

Considering how we will address
tracking of chemicals in products
to reduce barriers to recycling
and reuse whilst preventing arisk from harmful chemicals.

Working internationally tostrengthen the standardisation of
methods that assess chemicalsafety in support of the mutual
acceptance of data to identify
and share information on
emerging concerns and new
approaches to risk assessments.

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iv. Minimising the risk ofchemical contamination in ourwater
Chemicals get into our water via a wide
range of sources, including water
treatment plants, use of agricultural
pesticides, abandoned infrastructure suchas mines, atmospheric deposition androad runoff. We want to tackle risks fromchemical contaminants in English waters,
including groundwater, and make surethat levels of contaminants entering fresh
water bodies (which may be transported
to coasts and seas) neither increase norgive rise to pollution.
The way we have approached the
problem of polybrominated diphenyl
ethers (PBDEs), used as flame retardants
in home products, is a case in point.
These enter the aquatic environment
through domestic wastewater treatment
works. As a result of source control
measures such as banning their use incertain products, PBDE emissions havenotably declined, averting the need formore expensive water treatment. We plan
to carry on enforcing source control
restrictions on harmful products andrequiring water companies to monitor
trends in their treated effluents.

Greater transparency and a more
systematic, cost-effective and commonsense approach, can yield impressive
results in protecting human health andwildlife. As with the PBDEs example,
stakeholders will be encouraged to takeownership of problems. They will also be
expected to take an active role in seeking
and adopting solutions to contaminationby chemicals of emerging concern.
Decisions on managing risks will be
proportionate and based on the weight ofevidence, so that for example a high levelof certainty will be needed before adecision is made to invest in expensive
treatment technology to reduce chemicals
from treated wastewater effluents.
As well as source control mechanisms(regulations on chemical management orchanges in individuals’ behaviour) actions
to manage prioritised substances will
range from environmental interventions
around the pathway-to-the-water
environment; point source (end-of-pipe)
controls; and taking no further action
where controls already exist that canaddress concerns and evidence showsthey are effective.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will look to the water industry andmanufacturers of pesticides and otheragri-sector industries to deliver thesevarious approaches. They will be
encouraged to develop good practices,and voluntary and catchment-based
initiatives to protect drinking and/or
groundwater resources. In addition,cleaning up pollution from abandoned
metal mines will protect aquaticorganisms and deliver economic andenvironmental benefits for local
communities.

Actions we will take include:Implementing a strategy with aframework that prioritises current
issues such as antimicrobial
resistance, the presence ofpharmaceuticals and microplastics. Our goal is to improvewater quality, reverse thedeterioration of groundwater, andreduce emissions of harmful
substances.



Working with stakeholders,
including water companies andBlueprint For Water, to draw up aroadmap for individual (or groupsof) chemicals that takes accountof planning timelines forchemicals’ regulation, river basin
management and the waterindustry.

Working with the agricultural
sector on priority plant protection
products, such as insecticides
and herbicides of concern, toassess the progress thatvoluntary initiatives are making indealing with them.

Engaging with national andinternational academic
specialists, industry, policy
makers and regulators to bring
together robust evidence and to
identify emerging priorities thatmerit further investigation.

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25 Year Environment Plan

v. Ensuring we continue tomaintain clean recreational
waters and warning about
temporary pollution
Swimmers and paddlers must be
confident that the water they are entering
is clean. We have identified ‘bathingwaters’ to give the public peace of mind,
focusing on areas where we expect thegreatest number of people to be. Over thelast couple of decades we havesignificantly cleaned up our bathingwaters: in 2017, a full 98.3% of waters
met our standards for clean water.

Posing a lesser risk to health is one
immediate benefit of cleaner bathingwaters. Also valuable is the longer-term
boost to local economies throughincreased tourism.

Actions we will take include:Working with the Environment
Agency and water companies tocontinue to maintain our highstandards of clean bathing water.



Making sure that all those witha role to play take action to
improve water quality by, forexample, removing
misconnected plumbing,
improving surface waterdrainage and land management,
and maintaining private sewage
systems to a high standard.

Continuing to develop theEnvironment Agency’s
forecasting and warning system
so that bathers are warned of a
possible short-term pollution
problem, perhaps owing to spillfrom overloaded sewers during
heavy rain, or the tide
overlapping land used for
grazing. This will bolster publicconfidence in bathing waters.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 5: Securing clean, healthy, productive andbiologically diverse seas and oceans
At a glance
We will: Implement a sustainable fisheries policy as we leave the Common Fisheries
Policy.
 Achieve good environmental status of our seas while allowing marine industries tothrive, and complete our ecologically coherent network of well-managed marine
protected areas (MPAs).

Our seas and oceans are an integral partof our history, economy and way of life.
Oceans supply nearly half of the oxygen
we breathe, absorb over a quarter of the
carbon dioxide we produce, play a vitalrole in the water cycle and climate
system, and are critical for biodiversity
and ecosystem services. Our marine
environment supports our economy withcrucial jobs, seafood and raw materials.
The UK has 17,820km of mainland
coastline and the widest range of marine
habitats of any coastal waters in Europe.
They are home to a rich diversity ofplankton, invertebrates, fish and higher
predators, with around 8,500 species ofanimal and plants35. Left alone by people,
many aspects of marine ecosystems
continually renew themselves.

35

State of Nature, RSPB, 2016

But too often human activity depletes
stocks more rapidly than they can recoverand renew.
Two of the major threats are ocean
acidification (OA) and damage to coral
reefs.
OA is a direct result of CO2 emissions
from human activities around the world
and can effectively be tackled only atinternational level. The “Because The
Ocean” declaration, signed by the UK,
highlights the relevance of ocean
protection in the implementation of theParis Agreement and calls for all parties
to include ocean protection in their
Nationally Determined Contributions36,
both in mitigation and adaptation action,
including the conservation or creation ofmarine habitats important for carbon
actions, known as their Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs).

36

The Paris Agreement requests each country tooutline and communicate their post-2020 climate

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25 Year Environment Plan
sequestration. As a consequence,
consistent and widespread monitoring tosupport identification of OA trends at a
global level is required. The UK willcontinue to support this, and work withothers to drive innovation in monitoring
and collecting data to support policy andthe activities of vulnerable ocean states.
This will help us to improve ourunderstanding of OA conditions and theecosystem response to them, optimising
forecasts for OA and its impacts.
Coral reefs are under direct andsustained pressure. The UK’s ambition is
to champion and support theirconservation and biodiversity in UK and
Overseas Territories’ (OTs’) waters andaround the world. We welcome the factthat 2018 has been made theInternational Year of the Reef by theInternational Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI),
recognised by the UK as the key
international body for the conservation ofcoral and related habitats. We will
increase engagement with ICRI and workwith OTs to encourage the adoption ofbest sustainable management practice ofcoral reefs, as well as their associatedecosystems. We want to provide
sustainability for fisheries and ensure
food security while upholding social andcultural wellbeing.
We are taking steps to secureinternational natural capital to deliver
multiple benefits. Mangroves, forexample, play an important role in healthy
coastal ecosystems, sequestering carbon
and supporting aquaculture as well as
contributing to the wellbeing andprosperity of coastal communities.

37

The OSPAR Convention (1992) is themechanism by which 15 countries and the EU

We have invested £10.1m to work withcoastal communities to protect
mangroves in Madagascar, Indonesia
and wider South East Asia.
Seas and oceans do not respect regional
or international boundaries. Given thetransboundary nature of the marine
environment it makes sense to work withothers to achieve our objectives
effectively and efficiently. We will look towork with all UK administrations andother countries that are neighbours of ourseas through OSPAR37 in delivering ourambitions for the marine environment.
Using and managing our seas sustainably
will require multilateral collaboration: thisprovides an opening to influenceinternational diplomacy as we have done
for many decades. Our commitments todeliver the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) including the 14th:“Conserveand sustainably use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable
development”, will guide many of ourpriority work areas. We will work
domestically and internationally to deliver
our commitments under SDG14.
As part of our commitment to the oceans,
the UK will continue to work with theCommonwealth Secretariat and our
Commonwealth partners to draw up
an ambitious plan for a
Commonwealth Blue Charter. It will look
to apply the principles and values of theCommonwealth Charter to oceans, toinclude maintaining sustainable marine
environments, developing prosperous
blue economies, delivering fair ocean
governance and ensuring a safe andsecure maritime environment.

cooperate to protect the marine environment in
the North East Atlantic.

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25 Year Environment Plan
We will build on the success of theCommonwealth Marine Economies
programme where the UK is working with
Small Island Commonwealth States toenable them to use their marine spacesustainably.
Overall, some aspects of the UK marine
environment are improving. About 30% offish stocks are now at sustainable levels,for example, and since 2010 the
proportion of large fish in the North Sea
has climbed sharply to levels not seen
since the 1980s. We must still seek toease the impact of human activity,
however, particularly on seabed habitats
and fish populations.
We need to understand the full value ofthe marine environment and incorporatethat into the decisions we take: this is key
to the ‘natural capital’ approach that has
informed this 25 Year Environment Plan.
An understanding of marine economic,
social, historical and environmental
values can help incentivise behaviours
and practices that support stewardshipand sustainability. Using this approach
will allow us to be explicit about the
choices we make about how best to
protect and manage the marine
environment, looking at them in thecontext of the values associated with ourseas and oceans.
The fishing industry is a good example ofnatural capital in action. This vital industry
is dependent on a healthy marine
environment. We need to make sure that
we have healthy fish stocks free of
persistent pollutants and heavy metals,
and that fish stocks are exploitedsustainably, in order to ensure the longterm viability of the fishing sector.

In turn, by fishing at sustainable levels wewill help to protect the wider marine
ecosystems that underpin the fish species
we rely on.
To do this, we cannot look at fish stocks
in isolation. We must also protect themarine environment that is their vital
habitat, protecting and improving it byjoining forces with local stakeholders tofind the most appropriate ways of drawing
down the riches of the sea in asustainable way.

1. Introducing a sustainablefisheries policy as we leave
the Common Fisheries
PolicyThe Government will take advantage ofthe opportunities offered by leaving the
EU to bring in a world-class fisheries
management system that is based on theprinciple of maximum sustainable yieldand helps to restore and protect themarine ecosystem. We will work with thedevolved administrations as well as theUK fishing industry and otherstakeholders to end wasteful discarding,put in place the right incentives to ensurecompliance, and collect data and use
science in the policy decisions we make.
We will implement science-based plansas part of our approach to managing
fisheries sustainably and to recoveringfish stocks to sustainable levels in the
shortest time feasible. Once we have leftthe EU, the Government will publish anannual statement on the state of fishstocks of interest to the UK.

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25 Year Environment Plan
An ecosystem approach to fisheries
management will account for, and seek tominimise, impacts on non-commercial
species and the marine environment
generally, including through technicalconservation measures.

manage a range of pressures, frommarine pollution and eutrophication(adversely enriching a water body withnutrients) to fishing and other maritime
development.

Actions we will take include:

Recognising that species are mobile andmarine environments are inter-connected,
it will require us to work closely with othergovernment departments and countries.

To help achieve this we will:

Publishing a Fisheries White
Paper ahead of the new
Fisheries Bill, setting out our
future approach to sustainable
management as we leave theEU.
Pursuing this approach withaction at all levels, including infisheries negotiations with the
EU and other countries.

2. Achieving goodenvironmental status in ourseas while allowing marine
industries to thrive
Leaving the EU also gives us theopportunity to review how best to manage
our seas. The UK Marine Strategy setsout our overall ambitions for the marine
environment, the targets we want toachieve and how we achieve thosetargets.
Based on an improved understanding of
the value of the marine environment, we
will deliver effective management of ourseas to make sure they are resilient toclimate change while delivering the fullrange of goods and services. Realising
the vision of the Plan will require us to

Review all our marine targets andindicators to align them with theobjectives set out in this Plan anddevelop a marine online
assessment tool (MOAT) to look at
the marine environment and thepressures affecting it.



Deliver the marine spatial planningand licensing systems needed tosupport proportionate
management of the marine
environment whilst enabling
growth and providing greatercertainty for industry and investors.

We will complete the full series ofEngland Marine Plans by 2021 andensure they work cohesively withadjacent marine plans, whether they aredeveloped within the UK or byneighbouring countries. We will continue
to implement a marine licensing
regulatory regime that supports
sustainable development while protecting
the natural capital and wellbeing of themarine environment and all local
authorities with a coastal interest will besigned up to the Coastal Concordat by
2021

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25 Year Environment Plan
Building on current plans to complete ourecologically coherent network of wellmanaged MPAs, we will move to a wholesite approach to protect sites of greatest
biodiversity interest. We will adapt ourapproach to respond to changing
pressures on the marine environment,
including climate change, and develop
new and innovative techniques to help
with their management. These might
include remote sensing, earth observation
satellites and the use of autonomousvehicles.
This will protect marine habitats and thespecies they support. It will increase theirresilience so these marine assets are
better able to respond to long-termpressures and damaging humanactivities, and recover more swiftly fromindividual events such as storms andpollution incidents.

Actions we will take include: Completing in 2018 a major
assessment of how far our seas
have moved towards goodenvironmental status since2012.
 Using that assessment to review
our targets and put in place anupdated strategy that will deliver

the objectives in this Plan andassociated international
obligations for our seas. Regularreview dates will ensure that we
remain on track.
 Putting in place the remaining
marine plans for England, andworking with partners in the
devolved administrations to
support those for Northern
Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The aim is to complete theseries of UK marine plans by2021.
 Consulting on the third trancheof Marine Conservation Zones in
the first half of 2018, withdesignations within 12 monthsof that date. This will complete
our contribution to theinternational ecologicallycoherent network of MPAs in the
North East Atlantic by including
a representative range of thespecies and habitats found in
our seas.
 Extending work to protect

mangroves for local
communities to Indonesia in
2019 and to more communities
in South East Asia.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Sustainable fishing
Historically, we have fished unsustainably and this has vastly depleted fish stocks.
Without effective regulation and management, fisheries can suffer from what is called
the ‘tragedy of the commons’ where open access to a common valuable resource
results in a tendency to over-exploit. Unsustainable fishing practices do not justdeplete fish stocks; they threaten the environment and marine ecology and can also
have an impact on coastal communities. While overfishing may provide immediate
benefits in the form of increased income, it limits the availability of resources in thelonger term and thereby jeopardises the livelihood of fishers. It also undermines theresilience of our marine ecosystem and its ability to support sustainable fisheries in
the future.
An ecosystem approach to fisheries management aims for more sustainable
management and accounts for, and seeks to minimise, impacts on non-commercial
species and the marine environment generally. One such intervention is ‘achieving
Maximum Sustainable Yield’ (MSY). To bring overfishing under control, from 2006
EU fisheries management began to adopt the concept of setting quotas to prevent
further depletion of fish stocks. This was further strengthened in 2011, and MSY, with
its aim of restoring stock populations and maintaining them at sustainable levels, wasadopted as a central objective in 2013. MSY represents a reference point or range
based on scientific advice that indicates the level at which a species can be fishedwithout harming the stock in the long term. While this might mean in practice thatfishermen cannot fish as much in the short-term, it allows fish stocks to rebuild overtime and ensures that the resource is available to us for much longer.
Hake stocks in the North-East Atlantic are an example of how stocks can be rebuilt,
and illustrate the potential effect of MSY on stock sizes. Between 1985 and 2004,
these stocks were in continual decline owing to overfishing. At the lowest point in
2003, 2,500 tonnes were landed in the UK, at a value of £6m at current prices. From
2006, the EU moved towards setting Total Allowable Catches (the amounts
fishermen are allowed to catch) in line with MSY. As a result, stocks are now aroundfive times larger, allowing the UK to land 14,000 tonnes of Hake valued at £35m.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Chapter 6: Protecting and improving our global
environment
At a glance
We will: Provide international leadership and lead by example in tackling climate change
and protecting and improving international biodiversity.
 Help developing nations protect and improve the environment by providing
assistance and supporting disaster planning.
 Support and protect international forests and sustainable agriculture.
 Leave a lighter footprint on the global environment by enhancing sustainability andsupporting zero deforestation supply chains.

We all live on one planet. We cannot
improve the UK’s environment in isolationfrom the wider global environment – wemust protect and enhance both. Systems
that regulate life on earth – terrestrial
ecosystems, the world’s oceans,freshwater and the climate exist in
feedback loops.
Damage we cause can be multiplied,creating conditions hostile to ourexistence. An effective response requires
joint action on a global scale. We want tobe sure that tropical rainforests, coral
reefs, abundant wildlife and theastonishing beauty of the natural world
survive to thrill and support the livelihoodsof future generations.

Our Clean Growth Grand Challenge,
announced in the Industrial Strategy, will
ensure that we approach thesechallenges with economic opportunities
and productivity enhancement in mind.
Environmental pressures are increasing
everywhere. Major ecosystems (such asseas and oceans) that support billions ofpeople are under threat. Natural
disasters, climate change andcatastrophic environmental degradation
cause economic problems worldwide.
Pollution observes no national borders.
Emissions that affect land, air and waterin one country can have a harmful impact
on ecosystems and human health inothers.

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25 Year Environment Plan
The poorest people and countries in theworld are often the most vulnerable andlikely to be hardest hit by the degradationof natural environments – the soil, water,seas, forests and wildlife. Climate change
and the deterioration of naturalenvironments are prime drivers ofpoverty, food insecurity and instability,
and can trigger conflict and migration.
The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth mostlucrative transboundary crime, with anestimated value of up to £17bn per year.
It is not only animals that are poachedand killed, but prized tropical hardwoods
that are illegally felled and shippedaround the world. The despoliation offorests destroys traditional sources offood for forest animals, clean water,
medicines for indigenous people andbuilding materials.
Achieving global change is not easy. But
by showing international leadership,
supporting developing countries andreducing our own environmental footprint,
we can make a real difference. With
much at stake, we need to work together
to confront pressing challenges. The
whole of the UK is fully committed to thismost vital cause.

The illegal wildlife trade is worth an estimated £17bn per year.
an important plant of peat bogs seen here on the Humberhead Peatlands NNR

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25 Year Environment Plan
From our proposals for some of theworld’s strictest measures on ivory sales
to combating deforestation, cutting
greenhouse gases while promoting clean
economic growth, the UK has
championed environmental protection.
Among the most difficult challenges issecuring binding pledges from multiple
nations. In 2015, the UK helped to secure
the Paris Agreement, the first truly global,
comprehensive climate change
agreement. And we continue to lead bytaking action at a domestic level - since1990 we have cut UK emissions by 42%38
while our economy has grown by twothirds.39 The UK’s Climate Change Act
2008 was the first in the world tointroduce legally-binding emissions
targets: it is hailed as having led the worldin driving domestic action, both to reduce
emissions and to identify and adapt to thepressures we face as our climatechanges. It is an example of UK
leadership above and beyond therequirements of EU membership.

The Clean Growth Strategy, published in
October 2017, set out our plans to buildon the successful decarbonisation of thepower sector while looking further acrossthe whole of the economy and naturalenvironment. It includes ambitious
proposals surrounding housing, business,transport, the natural environment andgreen finance. The Clean Growth Grand
Challenge, announced in the Industrial
Strategy, will ensure the UK reaps the
economic rewards that this global
transformation will create for those thatlead the way.
The Government’s most recent UK
climate change risk assessment (CCRA),
based on the independent evidence
report of the Committee on Climate
Change, highlights risks to a number of
our natural assets – including soils,
freshwater resources, natural carbon
stores, marine ecosystems, farming,
forestry, wildlife and habitats.
We will address these risks through thesecond National Adaptation Programme,
to be published later in 2018. This will set
out how we will adapt to a range of
projected climate impacts.
Emissions from the natural resources
sectors have halved since 1990 andfurther action to reduce them are set out
in the Clean Growth Strategy.

38

Provisional UK emissions statistics, BEIS, 201739

Quarterly National Accounts Statistical bulletins, ONS, 2016112

25 Year Environment Plan
Climate change is far from the only global
threat. Across the world, biodiversity andthe habitats that support it are coming
under unprecedented pressure. The UK
as a party to the CBD and to numerous
conventions that protect marine,
migratory and endangered species will
work to improve the global environment:
indeed, we ourselves are custodians ofglobally significant biodiversity in the UK’s
OTs, which support unique ecosystems.
As such, we are committed to
implementing these conventions
domestically, and to supporting
developing countries to meet their
obligations. Our long-standing Darwin
Initiative, established 25 years ago at the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, has so
far supported over a thousand projects in
159 countries. It helps nations rich inbiodiversity but poor in financial
resources to conserve, and sustainablyuse, their natural resources. So far, theDarwin Initiative has established 20,315
permanent field plots around the globe,
provided 32,957 training weeks andproduced 2,660 species or habitat
management plans for overseas
governments or agencies. Recent
projects funded through this initiative

have helped protect the snow leopard,protected and restored mangroves in thePhilippines in the wake of Typhoon
Haiyan in 2013, and supported
commercially successful and sustainable
coffee co-operatives in Ethiopia.
We are also committed to protected
cultural and natural heritage around theworld. The UK’s heritage organisationsdeliver education, training, consultancy,
conservation and renovation programmes
to many parts of the globe. Many heritage
professionals and practitioners from othercountries come to the UK each year todevelop their skills, learn about heritage
protection and management in the UK,
and benefit from the knowledge of ourheritage sector.
Our OTs boast some of the world’s mostdelicate and complex ecosystems andhabitats. Working in partnership with theOTs, natural capital assessments arebeing undertaken to improveunderstanding of the full value of theseunique environments, and through theBlue Belt programme 4 million km2 ofocean around the OTs will be protectedby 2020, further conserving vital habitats
and species.

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25 Year Environment Plan
The timeline below illustrates some of our most important commitments.

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25 Year Environment Plan
In 2016, we also played a key part insecuring a global deal to reduce the useof hydrofluorocarbon greenhouse gases
under the Montreal Protocol, helping to
avoid close to 0.5oC of global warming by
the end of this century.
In line with our commitments under theParis Agreement, the UK has committed
at least £5.8bn through its International
Climate Finance between 2016 and 2020
to help developing countries mitigate andadapt to the impacts of climate change,
reduce deforestation and support cleaner
economic growth. Our portfolio of projects
has so far supported 34 million people incoping with the effects of climate change
and avoided 9.2 million tonnes of CO2
equivalent emissions40. We also work
closely with Multilateral Development
Banks to help direct their finance tosupport low carbon transition andencourage them to be innovative andambitious.
The UK has also shown global leadershipin tackling the illegal wildlife trade (IWT).
In 2014, Defra, DFID, the Home Officeand the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office worked closely together to makethe first international IWT conference –hosted in the UK – a success. The
conference secured ambitious
agreements from more than 40
governments to take urgent, coordinatedaction to combat IWT and was hailed as aturning point in global efforts to tackle
these damaging activities.

The UK has consistently supported
increased protection for vulnerable
marine species across different
environmental agreements. We continue
to play a leading role championing theconservation and welfare of all whales,
dolphins and porpoises both in the UK
and internationally. We play an active rolein the International Whaling Commission(IWC) where we strongly support the
global moratorium on commercial whaling
and will continue to lead calls for thosecountries that still engage in commercial
whaling practices to stop.
We have announced measures to clamp
down on the trade in ivory, which
contributes to the slaughter of almost
20,000 elephants every year. We intend
to introduce a total ban on UK sales, andthe import and export of ivory for sale toand from the UK, that could contribute
either directly or indirectly to thecontinued poaching of elephants, with
only a limited number of narrowly-defined
exemptions. These proposals will put the
UK front and centre of global efforts to
end this trade.
We have also been at the forefront of
global action to halt deforestation,
supporting ambitious action. This includes
the REDD+ Framework under the UN
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), covering countries’
efforts to reduce emissions fromdeforestation and forest degradation, andthe New York Declaration of Forests – a
far-reaching set of commitments to halve(in 2020) and then halt (by 2030) the lossof natural forests, recover forests andcroplands, and support private sector-led

40 UK Climate Finance Results, Department forInternational Development, 2017115

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commitments to eliminate deforestationfrom the supply chains of key agriculturalcommodities.
So that we can keep this momentum
going, we must intensify our efforts toprotect and improve the global
environment, with all relevant government
departments and stakeholder groups
working together to ramp up global
environmental action.
We want to keep the average global
temperature rise below 2°C above preindustrial levels, and aim for a rise below

1.5°C. We want to reduce our carbon
emissions by at least 80% from 1990
levels, and achieve this by 2050. We
want to halt and then reverse the decline
in global biodiversity, and increase theadoption of sustainable agriculture andfishing. Our goal is to help prevent theextinction of known threatened species,
and improve and sustain theirconservation status. As we move totackle poaching and the illegal
import/export of threatened goods, we will
not overlook the illegal felling of raretropical hardwoods.

Delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet and make sure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
Delivering the relevant environmental aspects of UN Sustainable Development Goals(Agenda 2030) for the UK requires cross-government, cross-industry and individual
participation.
There is a huge socio-economic and environmental dividend to be gained throughSDG implementation. The Business & Sustainable Development Commission has
estimated that the economic prize to business of implementing the SDGs could be up
to US$12 trillion (£9 trillion) globally by 2030. The government now has theopportunity to create the right market conditions to harness the socio-economic andenvironmental opportunities presented by the relevant SDGs.
We are committed to delivering the SDGs across government and have set up a
cross-Whitehall Sustainable Development Forum to co-ordinate and facilitate
implementation of SDGs in the UK, with ongoing scrutiny from the Environmental
Audit Committee who will hold us to account on SDG reporting and delivery. In
addition, we aim to present our Voluntary National Review to the United Nations in
2019. A report published in March 2017 set out examples of the UK’s work towards
achieving these goals, both domestically and internationally.41 On Sustainable Cities
and Communities: Air Quality, for example, we have agreed legally-binding UK
targets to reduce emissions of key air pollutants by 2020 and 2030. We are engaging
at local, national, and international level and working closely across the UK

41

Agenda 2030: The UK Government’s approachto delivering the Global Goals for Sustainable

Development - at home and around the world,
Department for International Development, 2017116

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Government to create a healthier environment through a new programme of Clean
Air Zones that will benefit people and the economy.
As a developed country, the UK should drive progress on certain SDGs where
domestic consumption has an impact on other countries. These include SDGs 13(climate change), 7 (energy), 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land) and 12(sustainable consumption and production). We are already investing in projects thatbuild the capability of developing countries to meet the SDG targets. We are using
finance mechanisms that will attract more private finance into environmental projects
and focus investment where it can provide the greatest benefit and bring real,
meaningful results. We will continue to take coordinated and ambitious action,building on our existing achievements, to reduce the UK’s impact on the environment
at home and abroad, and help developing countries to meet their targets.

We cannot do any of this in isolation.
Action will only succeed when we agreeinternational standards that protect theenvironment while also facilitating fair
practice in international trade which
avoids improving our domestic
environment at the expense of theenvironment globally.
The policies we will implement to protect
and improve our global environment are
set out below.

1. Providing international
leadership and leading by
exampleThe UK will be at the forefront of global
efforts to protect and improve the natural
world, driving the international community
to adopt higher standards. Our leadershipis respected in part because of ourenduring commitment to high standards,
domestically and internationally, and thedepth and quality of our scientificexpertise.

From working with developing nations, tochairing a working group protecting
rhinos, and continuing to strongly support
the prohibition of commercial mining in
Antarctica, the UK remains an energetic
and committed flag-bearer forenvironmental reform.
We have consistently used ourmembership of international fora todeliver high-level agreements on key
environmental issues. The UK is party tomore than 300 treaties and agreements
related to marine and terrestrial
environments, food and agriculture,chemicals and waste, genetic resources,
and plant and animal health – each with
an important role in protecting andimproving the natural world.
We will continue to lead by example on
the crucial environmental challenges,
meeting the ambitious goals to which weare committed under these agreements.

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As existing agreements progress, or
become open for renewal, or new
instruments are proposed, we willleverage all our influence to secureinternational commitment to global targets
that are even more ambitious andstretching.

i. Tackling Climate Change
As set out above, the Climate Change Act
we adopted in 2008 was a prime exampleof early leadership: it introduced five-year
caps on greenhouse gases, known as‘carbon budgets’, which have been used
as a model for action across the world
and are reflected in the Paris Agreement.
We will continue to set an example,
reducing our emissions from 1990 levels
by at least 80% by 2050 and publishing
our second sustainable and effective
National Adaptation Programme in 2018.
We will use our diplomacy on theinternational stage to encourage more
ambitious global action.
The UK’s recent Clean Growth Strategy isanother example of domestic commitment
to environmentally sustainable growth, amodel to others as they develop theirlong-term emission reduction plans aheadof 2020. Again, we will also reflect thiscommitment in our international work.
The Clean Growth Grand Challenge
within our Industrial Strategy will seek tomaximise the advantages for UK industry
from the global shift to clean growth –through leading the world in thedevelopment, manufacture and use of low
carbon technologies, systems andservices that cost less than high carbon
alternatives.

The move away from coal towards
cleaner sources of power is one of themost effective decisions governments canmake to comply with the Paris
Agreement. To this end, the UK,
alongside Canada, forged the Powering
Past Coal Alliance. Launched in
November 2017 at COP23, the UN
climate change talks in Bonn, the global
group already includes more than thirty
government and twenty businesses andaims to grow further and continue toengage the private sector, ahead of
December 2018, building a groundswellfor this vital transition.
Using our leading role in the UNFCCC,
through which the Paris Agreement wasestablished, we will urge the international
community to meet the goals enshrined in
the text – in particular, as a first step,
through securing robust and integral rules
and standards. This is vital for futureenvironmental security: current global
commitments under the Agreement are
insufficient to limit average temperaturerise to well below 2oC.

Actions we will take include:Working to secure robust andintegral rules and standards that
underpin the goals of the Paris
Agreement.

Show global leadership byphasing out unabated coal-fired
electricity by 2025.

A core part of the Clean Growth Strategy
is our commitment to phase out unabatedcoal fired electricity by 2025.

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ii. Protecting and improving
international biodiversity
We will use the UK’s influence to build
support for an ambitious post-2020
international biodiversity strategy, rooted
in a natural capital approach thatemphasises the importance of nature’s
contribution to people, their health andprosperity, and the links with the SDGs
and the Paris Agreement. We will workwith partners internationally to make surethat a robust evidence base informs the
adoption of ambitious, realistic andmeasurable post-2020 targets at the 15th
Conference of the Parties of the CBD in
2020. These targets should help tostrengthen a natural capital approach andtransform the way in which decisions are
made at all levels, to value, conserve andrecover global biodiversity, thereby
sustaining a healthy planet and delivering
benefits essential for all people.
We will press ahead with activities
inspired by the aims of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
to ensure the sustainability of legal tradein wild flora and fauna, and to protect
species such as lion, elephant anddugong, a marine mammal related tomanatees. The UK chairs the CITES
working group on proposals to combat
illegal killing and trafficking of rhinos. Our
aim overall is to make sure thatinternational trade in specimens of wild
animals and plants does not threaten
their survival.
An important part of our commitment toprotect wild animal and plant populations
is our work on combatting illegal trade.
We aim to reduce illegal trade in wildlife
by working to eradicate the market for

IWT products, ensuring effective legal
frameworks, strengthening law
enforcement and providing sustainable
alternative livelihoods. To help secure thisambition we will bring global leaders backto London in 2018 for the international
IWT conference – convening a global
coalition against IWT and reaffirming
political commitment at the highest level.
We will tackle IWT as a serious organised
crime that affects people as well asanimals.
The UK’s OTs are home to rich, globally
important biodiversity, with many species
found nowhere else in the world and avariety of spectacular marine andterrestrial ecosystems. Local people rely
heavily on societal benefits from theenvironment in the form of tourism,
disaster mitigation and the provision offood and clean water.
With their vast marine areas, the OTs
offer an opportunity to lead the world in
marine protection. The Blue Belt ofmarine protection around our OTs,
conserves habitats and the species they
support, increases resilience to long-termpressures such as climate change anddamaging human activities in surrounding
areas, and supports sustainableeconomic development for the long term.
Climatic changes in the Polar Regions
are having dramatic consequences, andthese consequences have global impacts.
The UK has consistently been at theforefront of protecting the environment of
the Arctic and the Antarctic and willcontinue to use its leading role in the
Antarctic Treaty System and oursovereign interests in the South Atlantic
to protect Antarctica and the Southern
Ocean. We led the work to create the firstever Marine Protected Area in Antarctic
waters in 2009, strongly supported the11925 Year Environment Plan
designation of the world’s largest Marine
Protected Area in the Ross Sea region,and continue to work towards thedevelopment of a network of protectedareas around the Southern Ocean. A UKled initiative ensures that marine areas
newly exposed from ice shelf collapse or
retreat, such as occurred at the Larsen C
ice shelf in 2017, are protected fromcommercial fishing activities for scientificstudy. The UK remains fully committed to
the Protocol on Environmental Protection
and its ban on commercial mining in
Antarctica. We will continue to work with
the Arctic States to further our
understanding, and enhance theprotection of the fragile environment, andto advocate that only sustainable andresponsible development takes place inthe high North.

feasibility of an anti-poachingtaskforce.
Continuing to provide targetedfinancial help to developing
nations in order to manage
biodiversity and tackle the illegal
wildlife trade.



Developing new techniques tomanage protected areas in the
OTs, for example by introducing
the use of remote sensing, earth
observation satellites and use of
autonomous vehicles.

Working with our OTs we willcontinue the implementation of
the Blue Belt programme,
including supporting efficientmonitoring and enforcement oflarge scale protected areas.

We will continue to support the
global moratorium oncommercial whaling and leadcalls for those countries that stillengage in commercial whaling
practices to stop.

Playing an active role in securing
a new international agreement
for the conservation andsustainable use of marine areas
beyond national jurisdiction.

Actions we will take include:Taking a leading role indeveloping an ambitious post2020 international biodiversity
strategy.



Hosting the IWT conference in
2018, we will work with othernations to drive coordinatedglobal action in the fight against
IWT.



We will strengthen partnerships
to tackle IWT beyond borders,
including investigating the120

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2. Helping developing nations
to protect and improvethe environment

The next rounds of the Darwin Initiative,
Darwin Plus and the Illegal Wildlife Trade
Challenge Fund are expected to open for
applications in spring 2018.

The actions taken by developing
countries, which often suffer the worst
effects of climate change, are key toimproving the global environment,
particularly as their economies grow overcoming decades. If we are to protect andimprove the global environment, we must
work with developing countries to support
them in strengthening their resilience toclimate change, support sustainable
development and conserve biodiversity.

The UK will continue to support countries
with National Adaptation Programmes of
Action and disaster risk plans. ThroughUK-funded programmes such as Building
Resilience and Adaptation to Climate
Extremes and Disasters (BRACED), theUK can demonstrate global leadershipand reduce the impact of humanitariandisasters. We will support further
engagement with climate-related policies
on a national, regional and international
scale, in particular in drawing up
processes for Adaptation Plans.

i. Providing assistance andsupporting disaster planning
The UK will use Official Development
Assistance and our scientific andtechnical expertise to help developing
countries understand and manage theirenvironments sustainably.
We have already pledged at least £5.8bn
of International Climate Finance from2016-20, playing our part in the collective
effort by all developed countries tomobilise at least $100bn of climate
finance a year by 2020 from public andprivate sources. We are one of the largest
providers of this kind of finance. Our aim
is to target funds in areas where themoney will have a transformative effect,to leverage in further finance, and to build
on UK strengths and experience.
To help achieve our environmental
ambitions we will continue our work on
the UK’s Darwin Initiative and Darwin
Plus funds, which aim to help deliver
long-term strategic outcomes for thenatural environment in the UK’s Overseas
Territories and developing countries.

The UK has built up a wealth of expertise
while improving the performance of its
own economy and energy systems overthe past quarter of a century. We aresharing the lessons learned with partnercountries, supported by the £1.2bn crossgovernment Prosperity Fund that has
been set up to tackle barriers tosustainable and inclusive growth between
2018 and 2021. Prosperity Fund
programmes in China, India, Brazil,
Mexico and South East Asia will provide
expertise about regulating clean energy
markets, improving the flow of finance to
low carbon projects, and building up
capacity to improve regulation. We willbuild on the experiences of theCommonwealth Marine Economies
programme which is working with 17
Commonwealth small island developing
states to combat the effects of climatechange, ocean acidification, extreme
weather events, pollution, over fishing,loss of habitat and to enable conservationand sustainable use of their marine
space.

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Actions we will take include:Continuing to help support
developing countries on highpriority environmental projects.

Doing more to help developing
nations tackle pollution andreduce plastic waste, including
through UK aid.

Continuing to deliver the UK’s
Darwin Initiative and Darwin Plus
programmes.

Assisting countries in preparing,producing and implementing
National Adaptation Programmesof Action.

Sharing UK expertise withemerging economy partners
through Prosperity Fund
programmes.

Helping to produce national
capacity building plans(complementing existing nationaland regional plans) for
developing Blue Economies ofsmall island developing states by
2025.



Continuing to improve the flow offinance to low carbon projects
and ensure proper regulation ofclean energy markets. This will
help emerging markets toimprove medium-term regulation.

ii. Supporting and protecting
international forests andsustainable global agriculture
Forests support 90% of the world’s
biodiversity, regulate water quality, andmitigate climate change by absorbing andstoring huge quantities of carbon from theatmosphere. More than 1.6 billion people
depend on forests for food, medicine andlivelihoods. Illegal logging increases
greenhouse gas emissions and results inthe loss of biodiversity. It can also have adevastating impact on the people who livein forests or rely on them for theirlivelihoods.
But there is a balancing act to performwith the ever increasing need for
productive agriculture. Sustainability isparticularly important in agriculture. Twobillion people are supported throughsmallholder farming in developing
countries: these enterprises produce over
70% of the world’s food. With the global
population expected to reach nearly 10
billion by 2050, these farmers must
become even more productive if we are
to be sure of having enough food for all.
We cannot continue with the current
massive conversion of forests and othernatural habitats into farmland. Already,high levels of food insecurity andmalnutrition persist despite an increase inglobal supply, and climate change
ratchets up the pressure to produce foodand other crops sustainably.
To tackle these challenges, we areworking to make agricultural systems
more productive, sustainable and resilient
to climate change through strategic
investments. As part of the Clean GrowthGrand Challenge, the Industrial Strategy

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White Paper set out our ambition to put
the UK at the forefront of the global moveto high-efficiency agriculture through the
new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
'Transforming food production: from farm
to fork'. The Department for International
Development (DFID) has alsosignificantly increased the money it puts
into agriculture, raising it from £243m in
2011/12 to £484m in 2014/15. This
covers the world’s largest climate change
adaptation programme focused on
smallholder farmers - the International
Fund for Agriculture Development’s(IFAD) multi-donor Adaptation for
Smallholder Agriculture Programme(ASAP).
Through the support of UK International
Climate Finance, we are helping to makesure that this agricultural development
happens in the right way, supporting
developing countries to halt deforestation,
protecting the world’s most biodiverse
forests and establish sustainable
livelihoods to eradicate poverty. In Brazil,
for example, we are supporting farmers toprotect and restore forest landscapes in

the Amazon, Atlantic Forests andCerrado by helping them access private
sector loans to fund the transition into low
carbon sustainable agriculture.

Actions we will take include:Ensuring deforestation remains apriority when targeting future
Official Development Assistancespend.

Continuing to work withmultilateral development
organisations so that momentum
is maintained on key
environmental issues.

Remaining firmly committed tohalting illegal logging andcombating deforestation, anddevising new solutions to supportand recognise improvements inforest governance.

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Adapting the Ethiopian Coffee Economy to
Climate Change
Scientists from Royal Botanical Gardens Kew worked with cooperatives in Ethiopia to
produce a higher value export coffee sold through Waitrose and other retailers, showing what
successes can be achieved. Yayu Forest Coffee is the upshot of a three-year, £315,790
project funded by the Darwin Initiative, aimed at securing both local livelihoods and the local
environment.
Ethiopia is the world’s fifth largest coffee producer. Its exports of Arabica coffee beans
generate a quarter of the country’s export earnings and provide livelihoods for around 15
million people. Arabica has a very narrow tolerance of environmental fluctuations –particularly temperature and rainfall. The fear was that the traditional ‘forest-friendly’ methodof coffee production in Ethiopia could be jeopardised due to the effects of climate change.

Four fifths of coffee in Ethiopia is grown under forest canopy – a production method that isgood not only for the growers but also the natural environment and local people. Forests thatare seen to ‘pay their way’ are conserved rather than converted to other uses, which could
then run the risk of threatening the stock of natural capital and damaging ecosystem services
such as water cycling and soil protection.
Scientists from RGB Kew, in collaboration with Ethiopian researchers, began to study the
impact of climate changes on coffee production and come up with options for the future.
They identified that climate change could reduce viable coffee producing areas by up to 60%
in the absence of adaptation strategies. Conversely, the research also showed that a positive
adaptation approach could actually lead to increased production.
As a result, one of the forest coffee cooperatives, along with Union Coffee is now producing
a higher value export product – achieving better margins at no extra cost to the natural world.
The UK‘s involvement helped to produce sustainable and resilient local livelihoods whileconserving valuable local biodiversity.

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3. Leaving a lighter footprint on
the global environment
Our vision for the natural world of the
future is one in which economic growth,development and environmental
protection go hand in hand wherever you
are in the globe and this approach was at
the heart of our Industrial Strategy. It is in
everyone’s best interests to avoid any‘race to the bottom’. For centuries the UK
has been a great trading nation and thelegacy of this is that we remain a leader
in understanding and promoting theimportance of the environment.

i. Enhancing sustainability
As is the case with all our environmental
work we set out to be an example forothers, focusing attention on how tocreate and drive up standards
everywhere. We will do this by making
sure that our consumption and impact onnatural capital are sustainable, at homeand overseas.
We believe that environmental
sustainability should be at the very heartof global production and trade, and wewill be a passionate advocate for it. We
will develop a trading framework that
supports foreign and domestic policy,
sustainability, environmental anddevelopment goals. In this way we will
help make sure that the global
environment is properly protected, andthat threats of extinction are greatly
reduced.

We will use natural capital approaches tohelp guide us and as part of thisencourage better uptake of natural capital
reporting, standards and accounting
across government and businesses, inconjunction with key initiatives such as
the Taskforce on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures and the Natural
Capital Coalition Protocol.

Actions we will take include: Working in partnership withindustry to explore the possibilityof developing additional tools that
support businesses to identify
sustainable supply chains.
 Establishing appropriate
mechanisms to screen policies
and strategies for potential
negative environmental effects
overseas.
 Using our prominence as
innovators to develop new
approaches and techniques that
help take account of natural
capital.
 Hosting an international

conference to discuss new waysof incorporating natural capital
approaches to long-term policy
making.

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ii. Protecting and managing
risks from hazards
We are committed to maintaining highstandard of protections for consumers,
workers, and the environment in our trade
agreements.
As part of this we will work on theinternational stage under frameworks
such as the Strategic Approach toInternational Chemical Management to
set long-term aspirational goals after2020.
We will support countries to develop
effective chemical and waste
management regimes, and thus facilitate
existing and future trade whilst minimising
the risk of adverse effects from harmful
chemicals and wastes.

We will develop methods to identify
substances of concern: our aim is tosubstantially reduce deaths and ill-healtharising from hazardous chemicals andwastes. We will use existing multilateralenvironment agreements, such as the
Stockholm and Basel Conventions to ban
and restrict chemicals of global adverse
impact and develop guidelines to support
safe movement of hazardous waste
internationally.

Actions we will take include: Maintaining high standard ofprotections for consumers,
workers, and the environment in
our trade agreements.
 Playing a leading role indeveloping goals forinternational chemical
management beyond 2020.
 Supporting countries to develop
effective chemical and waste
management regimes.
 Understanding if further R&D isneeded into methods to identify
substances of concern andsupporting other countries to do
the same.
 Setting up international

partnerships over thesustainable use and productionof chemicals. These will make iteasier to share data, skills andfresh approaches to risk
assessment and management.

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25 Year Environment Planiii. Supporting zerodeforestation supply chains
The UK is determined to make good on
its clear commitments to support
companies to implement zerodeforestation supply chains. This stems
from our endorsement of the Amsterdam
Declarations and the New York
Declaration on Forests.
We will continue to invest in reducing
environmental risk in key sourcing
countries. In one example of this we will
work directly with local producers under
the Partnerships for Forests programme:
this supports zero-deforestationcommitments led by the private sector,
and deepens demand for sustainably
produced commodities in our own
markets while helping the transition tosustainable farming practices. This shows
how the sustainable trade model can help
drive economic growth in developing
countries.

Palm oil and cocoa are key commodities
linked to deforestation for which viablemeasures of sustainability already exist
and on which we are working in
partnership with industry. We intend to
expand this approach to look at otherinternationally traded commodities linked
to deforestation. Our goal is to create
demand-side incentives for sustainableinternational sourcing at home, while
supporting supply-side improvements byinfluencing, and investing in better
resource governance in trading partnercountries. This initiative would build on
the range of existing partnerships aimed
at making specific commodities moresustainable.

Actions we will take include:Establishing a cross-government
global resource initiative in 2018
to work with businesses, NGOs,
producer countries andintermediary countries. This willbring together key actors to
identify actions across supply
chains that will improve thesustainability of products andreduce deforestation.

Convening a roundtablediscussion over one chosencommodity as a scoping exercise
to explore the sustainability of
key supply chains.

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Section 2 - Putting the Plan into practiceAt a glance
We will: Consult on setting up a new independent body to hold government to account and a
new set of environmental principles to underpin policy-making.
 Develop a set of metrics to assess progress towards our 25 year goals and undertake asecond ‘National Ecosystem Assessment’ type initiative beginning in 2022.
 Refresh the 25 Year Environment Plan regularly to ensure that collectively we arefocusing on the right priorities, using the latest evidence, and delivering better value formoney.
 Strengthen leadership and delivery through better local planning, more effective
partnerships and learning from our four pioneer projects.
 Establish a green business council and explore the potential for a natural environment
impact fund.
 Work closely with a large range of stakeholders over the coming year to identify theircontribution to the goals set out in this Plan.

This Plan is a living blueprint for theenvironment covering the next quarter ofa century. It is an ambitious project, madeeven more so by our use of a natural
capital approach, a world first.
Turning the vision into reality requires
solid foundations: comprehensive,
reliable data, strong governance, a robust
delivery framework, and everyone to playtheir part.
This Plan will be revised and refreshedover the next 25 years to take account of
fast-moving changes in technology,
science, data and society. Our starting
point however, is that we will:

1 Set a clear, long-term direction
with flexibility to adapt to newevidence and circumstances.
2 Provide robust and credible
reporting, governance andaccountability.
3 Put in place strong local leadershipand a more integrated delivery
framework.
4 Resource, set incentives andsupport innovative finance,
including from the private sector.
5 Make sure everyone plays theirpart in delivering the improved
environment we all want.

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1. Setting long-term direction
with flexibility to adapt to newevidence and circumstances
The goals for the next quarter of acentury are set out earlier in the
document. They provide a long-term
agenda that everyone can work towards.
We have also outlined the next policy
steps Government will take, working withstakeholders. This and future
governments will need to build on andrefine these policies in the light ofdeveloping scientific and economic
understanding, and changes in society
and the natural world.
The Plan coincides with the once-in-ageneration opportunity presented by ourleaving the EU. We will make the most of
the chance to improve our environmental
policy framework, align it with theambitious goals we have set, and leadfrom the front in pursuit of higher
standards across the world.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will
ensure that the body of existing EU law,
including environmental law, continues tohold sway in the UK. Key underlying
principles of existing policy, such as the‘polluter pays’ principle and theprecautionary principle, are reflected inthis legislation and in the historic
judgements of the European Court, also
covered by the Bill.
We will be consulting on the developmentof a policy statement on environmental
principles to underpin policy-making postEU Exit. This will provide maximum
certainty about environmental regulations
as we leave the EU.

Currently, EU rules create a consistent
approach across the UK in a range ofpolicy areas. While the UK Governmentand devolved administrations makedifferent choices on implementation insome policies, these common rules
provide a number of benefits, including
making it simple for businesses fromdifferent parts of the UK to trade witheach other, helping the UK to fulfil its
international obligations and protecting
our common resources.
Outside of the EU, we will need to ensurethat we do not create any new barriers toliving and doing business within our own
union. For these reasons, there will besome areas where we will continue toneed common frameworks. We havealready started discussions with thedevolved administrations on wherecommon frameworks may be required.
After leaving the EU, we will build on the
many benefits provided by EU
environmental regulation, and make surethat our policy framework delivers anenvironment of which we can feel evenmore proud, in a cost-effective way to taxpayers. Our work will build on theimmense progress achieved in recent
years, both locally and nationally.
Should we identify opportunities for
improving environmental regulation, we
will consult upon them before making
changes. We remain fully committed to
implementing within the UK thoseinternational agreements to which thiscountry is a party and will continue to lead
their application globally, working in
partnership across the UK andinternationally.

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i. Measuring progress towards
our goals
We recognise the need for rigorous
scrutiny and will create a framework
which will specify how progress is to bemeasured.
At present, we have well-developed
systems that monitor many aspects of ourenvironment but these will need to evolveto accommodate the needs of the Plan
and a greater emphasis on using anatural capital approach.
We will develop better measures in areas
such as:soil health;
how ecological systems arefunctioning;
the human health benefits
associated with a better
environment; andthe overseas impact of domestic
consumption.

We will also engage widely over the next
six months as we develop acomprehensive set of metrics that we canuse to monitor progress.
The box below gives more detail on how
these indicators and measures might beproduced and used.
As a first step we will review which of ourcurrent indicators and monitoring
programmes remain relevant and can be
reworked to take account of natural
capital.
Because this is the first time in the worldthat government strategy centres onnatural capital considerations, we willneed reliable measurements of all the key
relationships between natural capital andits benefits. We will carry out research toestablish which measures give us thebest insight into how natural capitalchanges as time passes – these will
include the quantity and quality of natural
capital, and where it is vested. The
national metrics are likely to besupplemented by local metrics, tailored toa narrower set of needs andcircumstances.
Both types of metrics will take advantage
of rapidly-advancing new technologies.
Remote sensing, environmental DNA (i.e.
nuclear or mitochondrial DNA released
from an organism into the environment)
and ever-smarter mobile phones have thepotential to revolutionise how we monitorchanges in natural capital in ways
currently technically impossible orprohibitively expensive. Satellite data, forexample, can allow improved monitoringand enforcement in fisheries, or canrecord more accurately and with greater
frequency how land is being used.
Underwater vehicles (marine robots) will
help us map and monitor Marine
Conservation Zones.
Metrics and monitoring will be regularly
reviewed to check we are measuring theright things at the right time and in themost cost-effective way. This will ensurethat it is not the blind pursuit of targets
that drives us, but rather the mostappropriate policies and incentives for
improving the environment.
Further details of requirements for acomprehensive monitoring and evaluation
framework can be found in Section 5 ofthe supporting Evidence Report.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Measuring the impact of the 25 Year Environment Plan
Metrics are a critical part of the 25 Year Environment Plan. They enable us tocomprehend the complexity of the environment and allow us to:understand how the environment as a whole is changing – the pressures, thestate of assets and the flow of benefits;

assess the effectiveness of our policies and show how we are delivering ourdomestic and international commitments; and,

inform decisions and promote action within and outside government, locally andnationally.

We have a large number of existing indicators and associated statistics, data andmonitoring systems. A natural capital approach will require careful selection of theseand development of further indicators.
Goals of the 25 YEP.

Examples of existing indicators relevant to each goal*

Clean air

Emissions of key pollutants; number of high or moderate air
pollution days; area of sensitive habitats with excessive levelsof air pollution.

Clean and plentiful water

Water quality in rivers and lakes, bathing waters, andgroundwater; inputs of hazardous substances to the marine
environment.

Thriving plants and wildlife

Extent and condition of protected sites on land and at sea;status and trends of wild species and habitats.

Reduced risk of harm fromenvironmental hazards

Number of households better protected from flooding.

More sustainable and efficientuse of resources

Area of sustainably managed and harvested woodland; fishstocks harvested within safe limits; amount of raw materials
consumed per person and resource productivity.

Enhanced beauty, heritageand engagement with thenatural environment

Area of woodland; people visiting the natural environment andvolunteering for conservation activities.

*We will also need to measure pressures on the environment: e.g. greenhouse gas

emissions and removal, waste and resource management, chemical emissions, andpest/non-native species establishment.

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25 Year Environment Plan

We propose that we measure both the actions that we take (‘performance measures’)and long-term progress towards our goals (‘outcome indicators’). This will enable us tocheck progress annually within a longer-term context, looking across all the goals of the
25 Year Environment Plan.
Understanding how different interventions contribute to a number of outcomes will help
us review their effectiveness and strengthen the synergies between them.
Analysing trends and considering groups of indicators together will provide a morerobust assessment of environmental change.

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ii. Using benefits of better
evidence for better decisionmaking

In order to improve our understanding of
our natural capital we will:Continue to work with the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) todevelop a full set of natural capital
accounts for the UK that are widely
understood and sharedinternationally. Taken with the new
outcome indicators, theseaccounts will provide a much richer
picture of changes to theenvironment over time.

Improve our understanding andvaluation of the benefits of natural
capital through our own research
and working with the researchcommunity, learning from bestpractice abroad where appropriate.



Better incorporate the full spectrumof natural capital and the value ofthe benefits it provides into
analysis and appraisal acrossgovernment. We will also develop
new digital tools and maps to makethe use of robust economic valueseasier for everyone (see box onrecreational values below).

Improve monitoring and evaluationof policies so that both costs andbenefits can be more accurately
estimated in future analysis.

Good evidence is the cornerstone ofeffective policy making. The natural
capital approach will help place scienceand economic evidence at the forefront ofdecision-making, ensuring that policies
are aligned with our desired
environmental outcomes and yield thebest return on every pound spent.

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25 Year Environment Plan
Valuing outdoor recreation using a new online tool
The University of Exeter, funded by Defra, developed the Outdoor Recreation Valuation(ORVal) tool in order to quantify recreational values provided by accessible greenspacein England.
ORVal is an online map-based application that allows users to explore accessible
greenspace across England in a user-friendly, intuitive way. Based on a cutting-edge,
world-leading statistical model of recreational demand, ORVal brings data together andprovides information that can now be included in the decisions made by communities,
government and businesses.
The online tool is in map form, giving people the opportunity to explore recreational
opportunities close to them. It also helps connect them with their local environment, bothin urban as well as in rural areas as the map below shows.

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25 Year Environment Plan
At present we cannot robustly value
everything we wish to in economic terms;
wildlife being a particular challenge. On
the NCC’s advice, we propose toundertake risk assessments of the threatsfacing our natural assets, and use thefindings in strategic decision-making andprioritisation exercises for future iterationsof this Plan.
Over the long term, we will work withresearch councils, academic, professionaland voluntary bodies to help to develop a
more relevant, accessible andtransferable knowledge base and theskills to support better decisions – allbased on a sound understanding of
natural capital and the effectiveness ofinterventions to improve it.
We will seek out innovative ways tocollect and analyse data about our naturalenvironment and how people engage withit, building on the digital revolution. We
will promote research that sets the UK’s
action in a global context, taking accountof what happens in our dependencies andthe impact we have on the world.

At present we cannot robustly value everything in economic terms; wildlife being a particular challenge(Photo: James LePage).

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25 Year Environment Planiii. Refreshing the 25 Year Environment Plan
We propose to update the Plan at least every five years, following progress reviews (seesection below on reporting). During the first five year period we may update the Plan more
frequently to capitalise on the opportunities of leaving the EU.

Learning lessons – innovating through pioneer projects
Defra has created four pioneer projects to inform the development andimplementation of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Each pioneer is located in adifferent area of England and is led by part of the Defra group, working closely withlocal partner organisations.
Defra asked the pioneers to explore four broad objectives: Applying a natural capital approach to decision making; Developing innovative funding opportunities; Demonstrate integrated approaches to planning and delivery; and Building our understanding of ‘what works’ in practice.
The pioneers started in 2016 and have since been exploring policies that featureprominently in this Plan. The locations offer a range of environmental challenges andcircumstances against which to test ourselves, and also reflect pre-existing strong
partnerships and relevant initiatives in each area. The pioneers are working withpartners on what they learn to adapt or propose future projects to meet the four
objectives. Defra has asked the pioneers to be ambitious and to take managed risks;
to learn from what does not work as well as what does. As a result, and as intended,each pioneer has approached their objectives in a different way according to theirlocal circumstances and the priorities of their respective partners.

The four pioneers
Cumbria Catchment Pioneer
The Catchment Pioneer is led by the Environment Agency (EA). The devastation
caused by the floods of 2009 and 2015 and the subsequent response provides thestarting point and has shaped the way affected communities engage with theirenvironment. The pioneer is encouraging communities to take a broader interest in
how the management of land and water affects them, using a natural capital
approach.
Priorities for this pioneer include: testing new governance models for theenvironmental management of river catchments as a whole; looking at how thedifferent agencies can work better together to improve the process of securing

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25 Year Environment Plan

environmental permits needed for development schemes; and testing the applicationof innovative finance mechanisms, for example a ‘visitor giving’ scheme. These
objectives are closely linked with many policies in this Plan, supporting for example
increased tree planting, restored peatlands, the delivery of a new environmental land
management system and work with the Lake District National Park Authority toconserve and enhance natural beauty and cultural heritage.
North Devon Landscape Pioneer
The Landscape Pioneer is led by Natural England (NE) and is based in the North
Devon UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This pioneer is testing the use of natural capitalin determining environmental priorities and agreeing actions to target them. At its
heart is an innovative process for creating a shared plan that identifies where
investment in natural capital is most needed and securing new investment for thoseprojects in the pioneer area.
The pioneer has already mapped how existing funding for natural capital is
distributed across the Biosphere Reserve. The pioneer then identified the ecosystemservices that are provided by the different land uses and worked with stakeholders tovalue them and assess how they change over time. Investment priorities – such as
saltmarsh restoration or natural flood management – will be established jointly withpartners, based on this assessment.
The pioneer will trial a new local governance model, design and trial a payment-byresults environmental land management scheme for farming, and test natural capital
as a tool for engaging communities with the benefits provided by their environment.
The pioneer will also promote net environmental gain through strategic planning to
expand North Devon’s most valued natural capital. It will look to support more tree
planting and greater enjoyment of our coastal areas.
Greater Manchester Urban Pioneer
The Urban Pioneer is led by the EA and covers the whole of the Greater Manchester
Combined Authority (GMCA). This pioneer is focused on how environmental
enhancements can improve people’s lives. It is built on a strong partnership with the
GMCA – an enthusiastic supporter of a natural capital approach with extensive
devolved responsibilities including health, skills, planning, and economic
development. The pioneer is supporting GMCA in understanding how natural capitalhelps deliver these objectives and the benefits of investing in it, including through thedevelopment of a natural capital account for the GMCA area.
The pioneer has supported the GMCA in committing to achieving a biodiversity net
gain through planning and development across the city region. The pioneer is also
working with the GM Mayor to increase public engagement with the environment
through its 2018 Green Summit.

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25 Year Environment Plan

Other Plan policies that the pioneer will look to support include urban tree planting,natural flood management, sustainable drainage and creating green infrastructure.
Marine Pioneer
The Marine Pioneer is led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). It
operates in two separate locations, covering areas of coast and sea based on the
North Devon Biosphere and the Suffolk Coasts and Heaths Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty.
Applying a natural capital approach to the marine environment has not been
attempted before on this scale: this is a great opportunity to develop ourunderstanding. The pioneer is working with partners to produce practical tools for
capturing natural capital in decision making, and using natural capital to identify
environmental priorities and investment opportunities. The pioneer is undertaking anatural capital assessment of saltmarsh restoration and is developing a fisheries
partnership with the industry and others to test regional management opportunities
and create a market for sustainably-caught local fish.
Other Plan policies that the pioneer will look to support include sustainable fisheries,
better managed MPAs and development of the planning and licensing system.
The pioneers’ continuing role
Defra expects the pioneers to make an important contribution to the future iterationsof the 25 Year Environment Plan. Updates following the UK’s exit from the EU will bea key opportunity to share good practice from the pioneers across the country. With
foundations now in place, the pioneers can make quick progress on their existing
objectives, and on testing and supporting the policies in this Plan.

2. Reporting on progress,
governance and accountability

authorities, businesses, the public andother stakeholders.

Transparency and accountability are key
features of successful reform
programmes and will be built into ourenvironmental reforms.

i. Reporting on progress

Defra will act as ‘owner’ of the Plan onbehalf of government. The department
will lead on developing future iterations
and overseeing delivery at a strategiclevel, working closely with othergovernment departments, local

We will put in place regular andtransparent reporting of progress against
our new metrics, including to Parliament.
We propose to report annually on theplan itself. Reports will cover the progressagainst performance measures and ananalysis of recent outcome indicator
monitoring. As the monitoring cycles fordifferent outcome indicators will vary infrequency and timing, each annual report138

25 Year Environment Plan
will place greater emphasis on a slightly
different set of metrics, and in so doingbuild up over a time a more complete
picture of overall progress towards the 25
year goals.
Alongside partners within government,such as the Office for National Statistics,
and interested parties outside, including
environmental organisations, we willcontinue to publish regular official andnational statistics, giving everyone
information on how the environment ischanging. We will adhere to the UK’s
Code of Practice for Statistics and ensurethat all the statistics we produce aretrusted and high quality, and meet userneeds. We will continue to invest in thesystems that we use to collect data on theenvironment and people’s engagementwith it. As far as we can, we will make thedata collected available externally forothers to use.
In addition, government will arrange forcomprehensive assessments of natural
capital to take place on a roughly 10 year
cycle. The UK National Ecosystem
Assessment (NEA), completed in 2011,
was the first comprehensive assessmentof the state of ecosystem services in the
UK. It has been hugely influential in thedevelopment of natural environment
policy in England, the devolved
administrations, and internationally.
A second assessment to be started in
2022 will provide an updated picture of
the state of the environment at Brexit.
Building on annual progress reports, thiswill involve a more detailed evaluation of
the effectiveness of policies andmeasures. In it, we will take account of
new scientific knowledge and explore
future scenarios and policy options.

The assessment will be repeated towards
the end of the 25-year period to assess
outcomes and inform future planning.

ii. Ensuring independent
oversight and accountability
We intend that there should be robust
and thorough oversight of progressagainst the Plan. Government will launcha consultation in early 2018 on
establishing a new, world-leading,
independent, statutory body to give theenvironment a voice, championing andupholding environmental standards as weleave the European Union. We willconsult widely on the precise functions,remit and powers of this new body,
including any significant role inscrutinising and advising on the 25 Year
Environment Plan, subject toconsultation.

3. Supporting strong local
leadership and delivery
At present many organisations andpartnerships pursue their own plans,
across different areas and boundaries. In
places there is good coordination
between them, but in other places
opportunities for joining up andintegrating environmental work are
missed.
At a local level we want environmental
effort to be guided by the goals we haveoutlined but also to reflect local needs
and priorities as well as being more
integrated and efficient.

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25 Year Environment Plan
Work has already started. The larger
environmental delivery bodies in the
Defra Group, have aligned around acommon geography of 14 areas. Each
now has its own Area Integrated Plan
(effectively, a joint statement of intent
between the Environment Agency,
Natural England and the Forestry
Commission) that we propose to develop
into natural capital plans. These will bealigned with the 25 Year Environment
Plan (ensuring a clear line of sight tonational government) but be particularly
relevant to the local area or geographies
within them.
The aim is for the 14 areas to work
together, using a natural capital
approach, bringing in other partners tomaximise the environmental benefits thatcan be achieved from better coordination
across individual remits. Lessons fromthe pioneer projects will provide vital
information as they develop andimplement natural capital plans in theirrespective areas. They also provide a
valuable opportunity to test approaches.

The organisations involved may vary by
area according to need, but should
include Local Enterprise Partnerships,
leading businesses and utility companies,
Local Nature Partnerships, Catchment
Partnerships, local authorities, National
Park Authorities and water companies.
The level of involvement of external
parties will vary between areas but it is
key that the plans for each are codesigned and delivered.
Ultimately, we want to move towards anapproach in which the 14 local areas are
mapped and managed more as a system,with a ‘system operator’ responsible forthe strategic management of the natural
capital in accordance with respective
local plans. We recognise that this is along way from where we are now and thatconsiderable work is required to map out
how this might operate in practice. We
will continue to explore innovative ideas,such as the natural capital trust idea
which seeks to channel funding to agreed
priorities (See box below), to makeprogress.

Innovation in governance – a natural capital trust
The West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) is working closely with local
authorities and the West of England Combined Authority to explore how theestablishment of a Natural Capital Trust for the West of England could both enable
development and investment in natural capital, improving the quality of life for people
across the region.
Defra has provided support for this project as the model has the potential to be
replicated across the country. Such a model could improve the strategic allocation offunding generated from developer contributions and payment for ecosystem services
schemes to have maximum benefit to the protection and enhancement of a region’s
natural capital.

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4. Funding, financing andincentivising improvement innatural capital
We now have strong evidence on how
natural capital underpins the economy,
supports long-term growth and benefits
human health and wellbeing. We know
carefully-planned investments in natural
capital assets can deliver significant value
for money and generate economic returns
that rank favourably with those generated
by more traditional infrastructure
investments. When the NCC examined arange of natural capital investment types
in their third report to government, it
found that the benefit:cost ratios ranged
from 3:1 to 9:142. In other words, for every
pound spent, the nation received £3 to £9back in economic value.

42

The State of Natural Capital: Protecting and
Improving Natural Capital for Prosperity andWellbeing, NCC, 2015

The right mix of public and private funding
and financing for projects that protect andenhance natural assets will be crucial to
the successful delivery of this ambitious
plan. To date, such projects have typically
been resourced through subsidies andgrants from government and the EU, theHeritage Lottery Fund (HLF) andphilanthropic foundations as well as local
authorities, environmental organisations
and private sector investment, notably bywater companies.
While data for direct spending on
improving natural capital is notconsistently gathered across all sectors,
HM Treasury and Defra estimate that
central government funding for this in
England amounted to approximately£805m in 2015-16. Spending at UK levelby environmental organisations with abiodiversity or nature focus was £236m in
2014-1543 and the HLF awards around£100m per year to UK natural heritage
project.

43

This value is likely to be an underestimate as
the indicator does not include all NGOs with anenvironment or customer focus. Biodiversity 2020:
a strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystemservice: Indicators, Defra, 2017141

25 Year Environment Plan

Philanthropic and Lottery funding for the environment
The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (EFF) is one of the largest independent grantmakers to the natural environment sector in the UK. Innovative funding models usedby EFF include a £10m fund which is used to purchase pieces of land with a highconservation value that come on to the market in the UK. The land is purchased
directly by EFF and simultaneously leased to a pre-approved conservation
organisation with the option for them to buy it in two years’ time at the price EFF paid
for it, plus a small interest charge. This provides the conservation organisation with awindow to fundraise.
EFF has also committed a social investment of £400,000 to the South Midlands Newt
Conservation Partnership to support its role in a pilot scheme testing an innovative
approach to the protection of great crested newts through the planning system. The
EFF investment will help kick start a longer-term programme supporting over 100
habitats, leading to the creation of up to 1,000 ponds, 500 hectares of grassland and
100km of hedgerows over 10 years, with the investment being repaid over timethrough compensation payments from developers.
The HLF uses money raised by National Lottery players to help people across the
UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. This includes natural
heritage and HLF provides around £100m of grant funding to UK landscape andnature projects each year, with a particular focus on connecting people with nature.
Defra will work with HLF, as recommended in the recent DCMS-led tailored review,44
to consider how HLF can engage with the 25 Year Environment Plan and to explore
whether alternative options to pure grant-giving would support the sustainability of
the natural heritage sector.

44

Tailored review of Heritage Lottery Fund/National Heritage Memorial Fund, Department for Digital, Culture,
Media & sport, 2017142

25 Year Environment Plan

Case study: Water companies innovating in natural capital
investment solutions
South West Water’s (SWW) Upstream Thinking scheme, a partnership with the
Wildlife Trust and the Rivers Trust involves joint investments between farmers andthe water company aimed at making sure that land is managed in such a way that
potential pollutants do not run off into surrounding water courses. It is much cheaperfor SWW to tackle pollution up front than pay to remove it once it has affected thewater: as such, it is part of a long-term sustainable approach to managing costs by
reducing ongoing maintenance and/or deferring large capital investments; it also
helps keep down customers’ bills.
Wessex Water’s EnTrade scheme uses an innovative reverse auction online
platform to determine the optimal mix of payments to encourage farmers to growcover crops to reduce nitrogen run-off in Poole Harbour. As with the SWW scheme,
it is a more efficient way of tackling pollution.
United Utilities’ (UU) Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP)
works with farm tenants and in conjunction with partners such as the RSPB, Natural
England and the Forestry Commission. Between 2005 and 2015, UU invested over
£22m in moorland restoration, woodland management, farm infrastructure
improvements and watercourses to protect and improve water quality and thesurrounding natural environment, while delaying or reducing the need for future
capital investment in additional water treatment.
For the current price review (PR19 – the process through which Ofwat regulates to
set the price, investment and service package for customers), Ofwat is proposing
higher rewards for water companies that deliver innovative and stretching outcomes,
including for environmental performance. Ofwat also expects water companies’
business plans to embed natural capital approaches at catchment scales. These
incentives could spur a shift towards significant innovation in delivering moreenvironmental benefits, supported by private capital.
2017 saw the first UK public utilities green bonds issued. Anglian Water issued agreen bond that raised £250m to fund projects which contribute to their sustainability
strategy. Tideway, the company responsible for delivering the Thames Tideway
Tunnel supported by contingent government financing, issued a £250m green bondwhich was three times oversubscribed, demonstrating the strength of demand in themarket for sustainable investment opportunities. A second green bond issue meansthat Tideway is now the largest issuer of corporate green bonds in Sterling with a
total amount of £450m.

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25 Year Environment Plani. Continuing public investment
This initial iteration of the 25 Year
Environment Plan contains a mix ofconfirmed policies and longer-term aims,
with further announcements over the
coming years. Public funding sources willcontinue to play an important role inprotecting and enhancing the naturalenvironment. A significant proportion of
UK taxpayer’s money is currently
channelled via the European
Commission. Brexit brings with it a unique
opportunity to make sure public funding istargeted at our most pressing priorities as
enshrined in this Plan, achieving
maximum impact including by stimulating
private investment. For example,
Government’s near £6m investment in the
Northern Forest will help unlock further
investment from a range of sources which
could generate more than £2bn for thecountry’s economy.
A new environmental land management
system will use public money to deliver
public goods through simple and effective
administration. The Government has also
committed to underwrite the funding
awarded to UK projects on a competitive
basis by the EU, for example through the
LIFE Programme, even where projects
continue beyond the UK’s departure fromthe EU. We will work with partners todevelop post-EU exit arrangements andscope the potential for novel funding
streams and incentives, including levies
and charges. Ultimately we need toensure that we all face the rightincentives to take action on theenvironment.

Everyone should bear the full cost ofpractices that negatively impact on it andface a suite of incentives that makepositive practices in their economic
interests. The 5p plastic bag charge andconsequent reduction in plastic bag use isa powerful example.

ii. Catalysing private
investment
Increased private sector investment innatural capital will equally be crucial. The
development of natural capital thinking,data and tools will usher in more
opportunities to generate revenue fromprojects that improve the naturalenvironment. By measuring the benefitsof natural capital improvements we will
sharpen the business case for private
sector investment and help to unlock newmarkets, funding streams and private
finance for natural environment projects.
The Government will take steps toencourage private sector investment
wherever possible, targeting public funds
at projects that provide purely public
goods.
Such private sector opportunities werepreviously identified and explored by theindustry-led Ecosystems Markets Task
Force. Between 2012 and 2015, Defra
funded three rounds of pilot projects toboth improve the environment andgenerate revenue. The pilots offeredvaluable evidence of the opportunities
and challenges associated with
innovative funding approaches. We havesince seen pioneering schemes fromwater companies, and environmental
NGOs working with businesses and otherorganisations willing to fundenvironmental improvements because

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25 Year Environment Planbenefits accrue to them. The RSPB andOliver Wyman will shortly publish a
discussion paper on large-scale domestic
conservation finance.

More recently, a report for Defra identified
projects and initiatives involving private
sector expenditure that protect orenhance natural capital; The Aldersgate
Group also published a paper exploring
the current state of play in the natural
capital finance market and ways toincrease investment.

Clean Growth Strategy and Green Finance Taskforce
HMG’s Clean Growth Strategy sets out a series of policies and proposals to develop
new green finance solutions to mobilise more private capital into sustainable
technology and infrastructure projects in sectors such as energy, water, waste and air
quality. This includes setting up a Green Finance Taskforce, comprising senior
representatives from the finance industry and government, to develop ambitious policy
proposals which could further accelerate private sector investments to help deliver the
Clean Growth Strategy and 25 Year Environment Plan.
Shortly, the Green Finance Taskforce will make recommendations to government on
how to accelerate private sector investment in sustainable projects and infrastructureby building on the UK’s strength in green finance.

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25 Year Environment Plan
In the following examples we set out anumber of innovative market mechanismsthat can capture and monetise more of
the benefits from the natural environment
in order to generate revenue streams or
cost savings.
Listed companies can invest in tree
planting and peatland restoration
projects to offset their residualcarbon emissions – for example byusing the Woodland Carbon Code or
Peatland Code.



Housing and infrastructuredevelopers can invest in habitat
creation projects as a cost-effective
way of fulfilling their obligations tocompensate for habitat loss under
the National Policy Planning
Framework. Natural England’s
metric does this by converting
damage to biodiversity into a
comparable unit.

Providers of infrastructure can invest
in natural flood management
projects to increase their resilience.
The Green Alliance and National
Trust's work on natural infrastructure
schemes explores how an areabased market in avoided costs coulddeliver environmental improvementsby bringing together groups of land
managers to sell natural services
such as flood protection to groups ofbeneficiaries.



Product and supply chain
certification schemes allow goods
produced to certain environmental
standards to be sold at a pricepremium, enhancing brand value,
helping ensure resilience of supply
and securing access to markets.
The practice of benchmarking ofsuch schemes could help improve
consumer awareness and drive
higher environmental standards.
Business in the Community (BITC)
has been working with businesses
that are already investing in natural
capital to ensure resilience of
supply, provide a healthy attractive
environment for their employees andto meet environmental
standards. There is an opportunity
to align this investment to make surethat it is used to the best effect incommunities. For example, theLandscape Enterprise Network
approach developed by BITC,
Nestle and 3Keel identifies thebusinesses working within alandscape and maps the natural
capital that they are reliant on,
enabling more effective investment
and a greater understanding ofshared needs.

Matched crowd-funding schemescombine crowdfunding andinstitutional funding to get greatideas off the ground. A recent reportfrom Nesta looked at the impact ofsuch schemes by analysing a£251,500 matched crowdfunding
pilot involving the HLF.

Visitor giving schemes are a simple
way to invite voluntary donations
from tourists, inspiring them to help
look after the places they love.
Nurture Lakeland’s visitor giving
scheme enables tourism businesses
to collect contributions from theircustomers: the money supports ahost of projects across Cumbria toprotect the beautiful landscape,support communities and promote
the region’s heritage.

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Case study: Kingsbrook, Aylesbury Vale– putting nature at the heart of development
The RSPB joined forces with Barratt Developments to set a new benchmark fornature friendly housing developments – the first national agreement of its kind in the
UK. At Kingsbrook, some 2,450 new homes, new schools and community facilities
have been designed in a way that puts nature at the heart of proposals. Around 60%
of Kingsbrook will be green infrastructure, including 250 acres of accessible, wildliferich open space, orchards, hedgehog highways, newt ponds, tree-lined avenues, fruit
trees in gardens, bat, owl and swift nesting boxes and nectar-rich planting for bees.

Aylesbury Vale District Council has been instrumental in promoting this approachfrom the start and are now looking to adopt these principles in planning their garden
town. This is good for people and business as well as wildlife. Barratt expects thevalue and saleability of its homes to be improved by the quality of greenspace andthere is evidence that local businesses can also be boosted by a green setting. For
the community, greenspace can improve children’s educational prospects and theirconnection to nature, and contribute to improved mental and physical health andwellbeing. The Kingsbrook project will be carried out over about a decade with acomprehensive monitoring programme, developed and overseen by RSPB scientists.
Barratt have a unique national partnership with the RSPB helping to translate thelessons learnt at Kingsbrook across their development portfolio, having rolled out a‘Growing with Nature Guide’, embedding a biodiverse approach to all developments,
and planting high value plant species that support more wildlife.

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We want the Plan to help organisations
make more of these innovative ideas. To
that end, the Government will:

Set up a stronger domestic carbon
offset mechanism and carbon
guarantee scheme. These willencourage private sector investment
and develop markets for domestic
carbon sequestration. Businesses will
be encouraged to plant trees as a
cost-effective way to counterbalance
their residual carbon emissions; wewill also explore how we could extend
this approach to include other land
activities. First, we will introduce areporting framework for businesses
that drives demand for Domestic
Offset Units or Credits. Government
will also explore whether a Forest
Carbon Guarantee scheme is viable,using the existing Woodland Carbon
Code as a way of sharing the risk to
attract investors and increase demandfor domestically grown timber.

Embed an ‘environmental net gain’
principle for development, including
housing and infrastructure and explore
options to introduce a system ofconservation covenants in English
law. This will provide long-term
assurance that compensatory habitats
will be maintained to the standard
required.



Test, encourage and embed natural
flood management solutions in theappropriate places, and alongside
more traditional defences where
needed, including new ways offinancing schemes (see chapter 3).

Work with partners to consider
whether benchmarking ofenvironmental products and supply
chain certification schemes could
make consumers more aware of them,and drive higher standards.

Consider the results of Natural
England’s pilot of the BITC LandscapeEnterprise Network approach in theHampshire Avon catchment andassess how to encourage better
uptake.

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Working with businesses on natural capital investment
Business in the Community works to create healthy communities with successful
business at their heart. As well as their Landscape Enterprise Network initiativereferenced above, BITC’s Water Resilient Cities programme has been working withschools and NHS sites in Manchester to explore an innovative way of financing theretrofitting of sustainable drainage features (SuDS – e.g. green roofs and rain
gardens).
A scoping study has identified benefits from a strategic roll out of SuDS in public
estates across Greater Manchester, having investigated the time taken to pay backthe upfront capital costs through savings made from reduced surface water charges
in the schools’ water bills. The SuDS measures would bring benefits to the schools
and wider communities in the form of air and water quality, flood risk reduction,
education, health, carbon sequestration, urban cooling and biodiversity. Moreinformation is available on the BITC website.

Work with partners to determine
the potential for a domestic naturalenvironment impact fund. Such afacility could provide technicalassistance and financing for
projects that use the kind of market
mechanisms listed above (see box
below).



Government will establish a green
business council to advise
government on setting the rightconditions to stimulate
environmental entrepreneurism.
We will work with partners todetermine its exact focus (see box
below).

A Natural Environment Impact FundThe government wants to build on the momentum for more private sector financing
and drive further progress in the use of market mechanisms that capture the value ofnatural capital.
Defra will work with a range of partners on stimulating innovation in designing andimplementing projects that can improve the natural environment and generate
revenue to pay for project costs. We will convene interested parties to explore thepotential for a facility to blend capital from a range of sources (e.g. public, private
philanthropic) to provide technical assistance funding and repayable finance toprojects with the potential to improve the natural environment and generate revenue.

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Such a blended facility could issue a mix of grants and loans on a long-term
repayment basis at below-market rates to help address some of the market failuresthat have to date limited the take up of return-generating natural environment
projects. This would encourage innovation, help to develop the evidence base anddevelop a track record that could lead to such projects attracting mainstream
investment and the creation of new natural capital markets.

A Green Business Council
The government will also work with partners to establish a green business Council foradvice on the following: Actions by government to encourage, incentivise and create the right conditions forprivate sector innovation in green enterprise and environmental entrepreneurialism.
 Developing and articulating the ‘business case’ for companies to assess, address
and report on natural capital risks and opportunities in their operations and supply
chains.
 Positioning the UK as an international leader in providing knowledge-based goods
and services, contributing to the protection of natural capital and its sustainableuse.
 Options on how to develop new natural capital markets – for example, in exploring
how more revenue streams could be generated to make natural capital assets
investable.
 Seeking opportunities for new sector-specific environmental initiatives, inspired by

the Courtauld Commitment and the plastic bag levy; enabling more water company
investment in natural capital solutions.

5. We will work across society
to secure lasting change
We want this Plan to speak to everyone –citizens, local councils, charities, NGOs,
businesses. It is important that everyone
who impacts on the environment andderives benefits from it plays their part.
We all need to adopt a long-term andcommitted approach of ‘Do more: harm
less’.

It is clear that momentum for positivechange is growing and we must harness
this in coming months and years.
Government will help bring about change
in a variety of ways, using both incentives
and regulation where necessary, to makesure that responsible attitudes towards
the environment become the norm. Manybusinesses are also playing their part.
Fast-food outlets are introducing
segregated recycling bins with separate

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sections for paper cups, plastics andliquids, proclaiming their ‘ambition to sendzero waste to landfill’. Other retailers areswapping plastic straws for paper, andreplacing plastic coffee stirrers withwooden ones. Another example is thework of water companies, high street
retailers, coffee shops and transport hubs
who we will support to offer new refill
stations for people to top-up their waterbottles in every major city and town in
England. The water industry will also fundthe scaling up of an app to enable thepublic find their nearest refill station.
Consumers are beginning to realise that
their plastic cotton bud has a lifespan that
far outlasts their fleeting usefulness, butthere is much further to go.
This Plan sets out how government isleading, and we will now work with allparts of society and all sectors of theeconomy over the coming year to identify
their contribution to improving theenvironment.

Conclusion
We humans and the stunning multitude ofother living creatures on this earth arecompletely dependent on each other. Our
beautiful green and blue planet is ourshared and only home. We have a
choice. We can destroy and degrade our
natural capital for short term gain, andleave an impoverished inheritance for
future generations. Or we can preserveand enhance the world - for ourselves, forfuture generations and for all the othercreatures who share the globe with us.
This Government has chosen the path ofpreservation and enhancement. Our Plan
sets out an ambitious agenda for the next
25 years. Delivery of the Plan will require
sustained and committed effort not justfrom government but from organisations
and individuals across our nation. This
needs to be a shared endeavour and theGovernment intends to work
collaboratively with partners across thenation and globally to make a reality of its
aspirations. We call on all organisations
and individuals – in this country andglobally - to join us in our commitment toimproving the environment.

We can preserve and enhance the world - for ourselves, for future generations and for all the othercreatures who share the globe with us (Photo: Rich Lukey).

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