Environment Act 2021 Targets

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

We are all aware of the damage that bottom trawling can do, which is why we are looking to improve the situation in our marine protected areas. We had a Question on this quite recently, when I mentioned that we are working with the MMO on this. We need to get a solution. It is a complex area. We need to balance fishing with protecting our environment. We are working actively with the MMO and hope to have some outcomes from that very shortly.

[Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)]

My Lords, given that only 14% of rivers in England are in a good ecological status, while agricultural pollution affects 40% of water bodies and wastewater pollution affects 36%, and given the importance of healthy freshwater ecosystems to species recovery, what assessment have the Government made of the impact of river pollution on their biodiversity targets, and what specific improvements are expected in river health by 2030?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

River health is incredibly important for all sorts of reasons. Coming back to invasive species, we have issues with invasive species, such as mink, in rivers, so we need to look at it in the round. We have agriculture pollution, and there is run-off from other areas as well. We also have the issues around invasive species; Himalayan balsam, which I mentioned earlier, destroys riverbanks. There is lots of work that needs to be done. We need to get the data and information correct so that we can target resources to make the biggest difference. But if we do not get our freshwater rivers sorted out, we are not going to resolve the biosecurity issues, and we are not going to meet our targets. It is something that we are absolutely focused on delivering on.