Defra published its Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) on 31st January. The EIP is the first revision of the 25 Year Environmental Plan (25YEP) which was published in 2018. The EIP builds on the 25YEP, setting out how Defra will work with landowners, communities and businesses to deliver each of its goals for improving the environment. The EIP will be updated again in another 5 years. The EIP provides a review of the Government’s current environmental commitments, it also includes plans for the current decades. It is based on the 10 Goals that were set out in the 25 YEP.
- Thriving plants & wildlife
- Clean air
- Clean and plentiful water
- Managing exposure to chemicals and pesticides
- Maximise our resources, minimise our waste
- Using resources from nature sustainably
- Mitigating and adapting to Climate Change
- Reduced risk of harm from environmental hazards
- Enhancing biosecurity
- Enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment.
Halting the decline of biodiversity to achieve Goal 1 – Thriving Plants and Wildlife, is at the ‘apex’ of the Plan, with all the other goals helping to achieve this. The EIP sets out the actions required to achieve these targets, many actions will support more than one goal in the EIP. The full report (260+ pages) can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1133967/environmental-improvement-plan-2023.pdf
The document includes targets, delivery plans and monitoring processes that will contribute to achieving the overall Goals. There will be a mix of ‘carrot’ – financial incentives such as ELM; but also ‘stick’ – increased environmental legislation. There are also a number of ‘cross-cutting themes’ that are meant to help deliver the plan. These are green jobs & skills; green finance; biodiversity net gain; green choices (consumer behaviour), the new farming schemes, land use policy and green Government.
The EIP is not something that farmers and land managers are that likely to engage with directly. It is more a strategy for Government itself. The targets and goals of the EIP will lie behind much of the Government policy that is implemented over the coming years. It is these policies that will directly affect agriculture. In that sense, looking at the EIP is useful in terms of knowing what is coming down the road.
In terms of what this might mean for land managers, the new farm support schemes have been developed to help Government reach the targets in the EIP. This requires farmers to take part in its new ELM schemes and the other Financial Assistance schemes. Defra has said previously it was aiming to have around 70% of farmers in the schemes by 2028. In the EIP, it is now aiming for between 65-80% of landowners and farmers to ‘adopt nature friendly farming on at least 10-15% at their land by 2030’. Defra has produced a blog post covering what the EIP might mean for farmers and land managers. This can be found at – https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2023/01/31/what-the-environmental-improvement-plan-means-for-you/