Environmental Targets (Biodiversity) (England) Regulations 2022

Lord Harlech Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Harlech]

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 19 December 2022 be approved.

Relevant document: 25th Report by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (special attention drawn to the instrument).

[Lord Harlech (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my farming and land management interests—some of that land is SSSI, as I have set out in the register.

Biodiversity globally is in decline, and in England species abundance has fallen by 52% since 1970. According to the State of Nature partnership’s 2019 report, 13% of species assessed in England are threatened with extinction within Great Britain. We know we need to take determined action to ensure that we halt the decline of nature and leave the environment in a better state than we found it.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, whose amendment gave rise to this debate. It raises concern about the lack of a statutory target on improving the condition of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites; we feel that this is already addressed through our species abundance targets. The species abundance targets to halt decline by 2030 and then reverse that decline by 2042 are ambitious, world-leading targets which will drive wide-ranging actions to deliver nature recovery, including action on protected sites which are vital wildlife havens.

There may be other biodiversity targets that warrant consideration; however, we chose species abundance as a good proxy for the health of the wider ecosystem. Our indicator to track progress includes over 1,000 representative species for which we have robust data; between them, these species depend on the majority of habitats found in England.

The noble Baroness is right that many of our protected sites are in a poor condition and are subject to many pressures and threats, including climate change and water and air pollution. But we are committed to addressing this challenge. Our 25-year environment plan set the goal to restore 75% of our 1 million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites to favourable condition. We have a robust programme of work in place, led by Natural England, which includes providing £2.9 million per year to assess all protected sites, implementing protected-site strategies, introducing the Environment Act 2021, and rolling out the new ELM schemes which will provide the bulk of the funding needed. These regulations implement the requirements of the Environment Act to set a target that will halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, and have at least one additional long-term target relating to biodiversity.

There is no single way to measure the health of our biodiversity, so we have proposed a number of targets that address the status of species and habitats. Our three-pillar approach to restoring and improving our biodiversity involves: first, restoring and creating habitat that is bigger, better and more joined up; secondly, tackling pressures on species and their habitats, such as addressing pollution and improving water quality; and, thirdly, taking further targeted action for specific threatened species. The regulations therefore set targets for species abundance, species extinction risk, and habitat restoration and creation. Taken together, our actions to meet these targets will result in the broad improvement in the state of nature that is needed. Our overall suite of Environment Act targets, including those on water and air quality, will put nature at the centre of all government policy-making for generations to come.

I turn to the details of the instrument. It sets out our target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse that decline by 2042. We have changed that target in response to public consultation and feedback from the OEP. We recognise concerns that the target as previously phrased could have allowed for nature to be in worse condition than it is today, which was not our intent. The instrument therefore requires the Government to ensure that, by 2042, species abundance is greater than it was in 2022 and at least 10% greater than it was in 2030. Species abundance is a good proxy for the health of the wider ecosystem. The indicator that will be used to track progress includes over 1,000 representative species for which we have robust data. These species are listed in a schedule to the instrument and include the water vole, the marsh fritillary and the red-tailed bumble bee.

We know that action to achieve the species abundance targets will require the restoration and creation of wider habitats and ecosystems. We also know that we need that habitat to be bigger, in better condition and more joined up, which is why through this instrument we are setting a target to require the Government to restore or create in excess of 500,000 hectares of a range of wildlife-rich habitat outside of existing protected sites by 2042. We have defined wildlife-rich habitats as those priority habitats set out under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, as well as those habitats listed in a schedule to this instrument. We will measure progress towards that target by compiling a record of actions that have been or are being undertaken to restore or create wildlife-rich habitat.

As well as taking action for widespread species, we need to prevent the loss of our rarest or fastest-declining species. We also need to make sure that those which are currently at a lesser risk of extinction do not further decline. That requires bespoke actions, as some of our most threatened species will not be reached solely by the broad-stroke approaches that are central to achieving the species abundance targets. The instrument requires the Government to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042 compared to 2022, as measured by the red list index for England. That index includes data covering over 8,000 taxa, including hedgehogs and red squirrels.

I emphasise that the measures in the regulations are crucial for us to halt and reverse the decline in nature. I hope that all noble Lords will support these measures and their objectives. We will be setting out our approach to meeting the targets in our revised environment improvement plan, which will be published by 31 January 2023. I beg to move.

Amendment to the Motion

Moved by

--- Later in debate ---

I think that indicates that the regulatory foresight is not good enough. If the Government can go some way to addressing the questions that have been raised tonight, it might help provide some reassurance, but ultimately this is not good enough and it has to be better.

[Lord Harlech (Con)]

I thank all noble Baronesses for their valuable contributions tonight. This is a very important subject, regardless of the time or the fact that this is an SI as opposed to a piece of legislation. The environment and environmental targets are one of the reasons why I joined this place, so this is a subject that is very important to me. As a Government, we put the requirement to set targets into the Environment Act in 2021, but at the same time it is important that they are deliverable and realistic, while also raising our ambition to tackle the issues faced by the natural world. I absolutely agree that it is the job of this House to question those targets and that ambition, and it is our job to set out how they will be met.

The targets were developed to be complementary. They will ensure that action is being taken to improve wider ecosystems in England. Meeting them will require improvements across our protected sites network in line with the 25-year environment plan goal to restore 75% of 1 million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites by 2042.

As well as action across central government, we will need to work with local authorities, businesses, land managers and environmental NGOs to ensure that we do not just halt biodiversity decline but actually turn it around and restore nature.

As I said to preface this, it is important that we set targets and that noble Lords challenge them, but we also need to see wider societal and cultural change. It needs to become unacceptable for people to throw litter out of car windows or leave rubbish on the beach. Meeting this challenge will take everyone changing their mindset and behaviour. I will try to answer the questions put tonight. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if I do not cover them all; I will endeavour to write to noble Lords so I ask them to pick me up on that.

We believe these targets represent one of the most robust environmental programmes in any country. The final suite of targets is stretching, and to deliver them we will require shared endeavour across all of government and society. We considered the evidence carefully. In some cases, it is not technically or practically possible to go further at this time; in others, higher targets would involve significant restrictions on and costs for businesses and people’s lives which we do not think would be right to impose at this time—but that is not to say that they are not constantly under review.

The Environment Act requires the Government to report regularly on the process. As new technologies and methodologies evolve, we will be able to show more ambition and increase the targets. The Government have committed to halting and reversing decline, and the UK has been leading international efforts in developing an ambitious and transformative framework under the global targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. We have addressed concerns with the previous phrasing to ensure that we leave the environment in a better state than it is in now.

We have also considered calls to increase our ambition further, but we do not believe that those calls to increase the targets have been met by the evidence base we have seen. Modelling for species abundance targets was developed alongside external partners, with guidance from Defra and Natural England. These targets are already challenging, so it is important that we set them at an achievable level.

On measuring the targets and comparing the 2042 target with the 2022 target, the index value is linked to a smooth value which takes into account fluctuations in data from year to year, making underlying trends easier to detect. The calculation of the index values in the smoothing process is peer-reviewed and well established. The methodology applied to this indicator follows that used in the England biodiversity indicators, so we are confident that using this will enable us to report on the target. The 2042 target will be assessed based on an increase in the smooth index value.

We believe that the suite of targets we are proposing is appropriate at this time, but the Act allows additional long-term targets to be set in future. There were quite a few concerns over whether this is it. It is not: we will monitor and continue to improve and push the targets, but we have to establish that baseline. The natural environment is complex, so we see target setting as an iterative process, built on over time, as our evidence base and understanding develop. We want to use the targets meaningfully to drive the environmental outcomes that we need to see.

I was asked why we have focused on abundance rather than other species indicators, such as distribution. We believe that species abundance is a good proxy for the health of the wider ecosystem. The indicator that we will use to track progress includes over 1,000 representative species, for which we have robust data. Between them, these species depend on the majority of habitats found in England. Action to achieve the species abundance target will necessarily require the creation and restoration of wider habitats and ecosystems. Indicators of abundance, in comparison with others such as distribution, are the most sensitive to change. This sensitivity will be useful in demonstrating whether policy action is leading to improvements.

I turn now to the 2022 red list index for England and assessing how that will change towards 2042. The index used the best available evidence at the time of the laying of this SI to set out a baseline for 2042. For the purposes of legal certainty, the SI needs to refer to a fixed baseline and not a baseline index value which will be calculated in the future. To ensure that we are measuring the target as accurately as possible, we will consider new data and information as appropriate, in conjunction with the relevant independent experts.

On the subject of ensuring that environmental regulations are protected, I can say that, in reviewing retained EU law, Defra’s aim is to ensure that environmental law is fit for purpose and able to drive improved environmental outcomes, while ensuring that regulators can deliver efficiently. This will ensure that the UK regulatory framework is appropriate and tailored to the UK. The Government have clear environmental and climate goals, demonstrated by the 25-year environment plan and the net-zero strategy, and any changes to environmental regulation will need to support those goals.

Several Peers mentioned the missing of targets, including laying the instrument by 31 October, and it is important to address that. As was mentioned, in March 2022, the Government launched their consultation on targets relating to the Environment Act 2021. It included 800 pages of evidence that were published following three years of developing the scientific and economic evidence. The consultation closed on 27 June. We received over 180,000 responses which needed to be analysed and carefully considered. In light of the volume of material and the significant public response, we indicated that we would not be able to publish targets by 31 October. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reassured the House and all interested parties that we would continue to work at pace to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.

I turn now to the criticism from the OEP. The Government are looking at alternative systems of land use; I was very proud to serve alongside the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, on the Lords Select Committee on land use. I would like to think that I heard a lot of the arguments over land sharing and land sparing. Land is a finite resource and we are asking it to do more—to provide more in terms of food, but also restore nature and energy. We are constantly looking at that, and it is very encouraging that Defra has made positive sounds about a land-use framework to balance all the competing asks on land. Our new environmental land management schemes will encourage farmers to maximise the use of highly productive agricultural land, while freeing up less productive land for things like planting trees and creating wildlife habitat.

In addition, the introductions of technological innovations, such as vertical farming, through our £270 million farming innovation programme, will allow us to free up space for nature while maintaining agricultural output. We will publish more details of this in our land-use framework later in 2023.

Several Peers raised the issue of sites of special scientific interest—SSSIs. We feel that what we are introducing through these species abundance targets will help to nurture SSSIs. We know that to halt nature decline by 2030 we need to take action to restore these protected sites, which are valuable wildlife havens. We are committed to delivering our 25-year environment plan and for our 1 million hectares of terrestrial and fresh water protected sites to be in a favourable condition by 2042. Natural England is increasing proactive work on SSSIs and has developed a much-improved monitoring system to gain a better understanding of the action required. Natural England is using this information at local and national levels, working closely with landowners and managers to put in place the changes, on and off site, that are required to improve site condition.