Environmental watchdog criticises Government over lack of monitoring and transparency

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has attacked the Government over a lack of transparency in measures to protect the environment.

OEP chair Dame Glenys Stacey said at the launch of its report on progress in improving the natural environment in England 2022/2023: “It is not a small task, evaluating the current state of, and prospects for, the natural environment, by reference to government’s stated ambitions, goals and targets.

“There is a lot to get to grips with, and we are still somewhat hampered by an ongoing and concerning lack of monitoring in key areas (such as marine and soils) and by a lack of transparency.”

Dame Glenys said progress has been mixed in the majority of the 10 goals set by the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.

Half of the 51 specific trends tracked by the OEP were moving in the wrong direction, or not moving, or were not readily or not yet assessable.

“The question we have been grappling with is this: overall, are trends and progress across the board and in each EIP goal area moving in the right direction fast enough and far enough, to meet statutory and other environmental targets and commitments and government’s wider ambitions?” she said, adding “deeply, deeply concerning adverse environmental trends continue”.

A year ago, the OEP found fewer than one-third of the environmental trends monitored were moving in the right direction but this year almost half were.

But this progress was still too slow. “We conclude (on the data and wider information available to us) that the chances of the recently established statutory targets for the environment being met are largely off-track, and government’s wider ambitions for our environment are not likely to be met unless things change.”

Dame Glenys said government must speed up its efforts as “too many policies are still in the early stages of development”

Marine net gain and fisheries management plans were “long awaited”, while on policy for managing exposure to chemicals and pesticides, “thinking and action are far behind the curve, the situation is not resolvable quickly, and significant programmes of work are needed”.

She said policies were ready to be used but “now need to be implemented, quickly and fulsomely”, with a case existing for legally binding targets for first halting and then reversing the decline in species abundance.

Government must scale up its efforts and be clear itself and transparent how it will change the nation’s trajectory to the extent now needed, she said.

Industries, local government and public would rise to the challenge if they could see what must be done, and that government plans stacked up, and what must be done “against each statutory target, when, and by whom”.

But she said: “We do not have that clarity, that transparency as yet. Almost a year on from EIP23, we at the OEP find that hard to accept, when matters are so pressing. We believe it saps faith in the EIP itself and leaves key players hesitant and uncertain.

“In our view, government must do better. It must set out transparently and fully for Parliament, the public, all those who must deliver and play their role, and yes also to us, the independent statutory oversight body, how it intends to deliver its ambition.”

The OEP’s assessment of environmental targets, including legally binding ones under the Environment Act 2021, found government is largely on track to achieve four, partially on track to achieve 11, and largely off track to achieve 10.

It was not possible to assess progress against a further 15 due to a lack of sufficient evidence, the report said.

Targets where government is largely on track related to specific pollutants and wastewater. Those largely off track included residual waste, sustainable fisheries, chemicals and improving nature.

The OEP was set up after Brexit to take on environmental regulatory roles formerly held by the European Commission.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “We were always clear that our targets are ambitious, and would require significant work to achieve, but we are fully committed to creating a greener country for future generations and going further and faster to deliver for nature.

“We will carefully review the Office for Environmental Protection’s findings and respond in due course.”

Mark Smulian