Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to criminalise acts of ecocide.

The UK already has strong regulations in place to protect the environment and contravention of many of these is a criminal offence. These are enforced by regulators who can seek criminal convictions to punish significant and or persistent environmental offending.

Through the Environment Act 2021 the Government legislated to protect and enhance the natural environment, including setting legally binding targets and publishing the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). The Government has concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23). We published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025 (copy attached), to be followed by publication of a revised EIP later this year. We will develop a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet each of our ambitious Environment Act targets.