Environment Act 2021 Targets Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Baroness Willis of Summertown
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Environment Act 2021 Targets
Baroness Willis of Summertown Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The OEP’s assessment that the right reverend Prelate refers to was made before our revised environmental improvement plan. Following the assessment, we have reset the interim targets so that they are live and under active review. Regarding farm wildlife, to achieve the legally binding biodiversity targets referred to we need as many farmers as possible to be working in a way which benefits biodiversity. Crucially, this will mean land sharing, to support farm wildlife alongside productive farming, as well as land sparing—habitat creation and restoration through bigger projects such as our landscape recovery project. That is a new interim target for the EIP to deliver environmental change through incentivising farmers.
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
We will hear from the Cross Benches, then the Opposition Benches.
Baroness Willis of Summertown (CB)
My Lords, I appreciate the response from the Minister. We are very good at saying what is not working but not so good at measuring what is working. Anecdotally we know that some improvements, such as rewilding and regenerative agriculture, are working for nature, but we still lack the metrics and data to record that. Can the Minister assure us that she will look at broadening out what is assessed so that we can learn which legislation is bringing about improvements in nature?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Unless you have accurate data, you do not know whether you have set the right targets. It is absolutely critical. One of the things that we are looking at in Defra, right across the board, is how to improve our datasets. In this particular area, it is critical. We know that if you target nature properly, it recovers very quickly, but we need to understand that better.