25 Year Environment Plan Progress

The report records progress against the ten goals of the plan and finds that 90% of priority actions have been delivered or are on track for timely delivery.

Key successes include:

• Preparing the first Environment Bill in over 20 years which will place the 25 Year Environment Plan on statutory footing and put environmental ambition and accountability at the heart of government.
• Consulting on plans for biodiversity net gain to ensure new houses meet the needs of people and also contribute to ecological recovery.
• Cracking down on plastic waste by introducing one of the world’s strongest microbeads bans, setting out plans to ban plastic straws and more.
• Laying our landmark Agriculture Bill before Parliament.
• Combatting illegal wildlife trade through introducing our landmark Ivory Act.
• Safeguarding our forests and woodlands by starting the creation of a Northern Forest and appointing a Tree Champion.
• Protecting habitats by launching a review to enhance England’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• Protecting our marine environment by launching our flagship Fisheries Bill.

The report outlines new commitments to strengthen the plan going forward, including plans to undertake an environmental citizen science project.

We also published a new indicator framework for the 25 Year Environment Plan, becoming the first country to establish a comprehensive indicator list from which to monitor environmental progress. Our aim in publishing the framework is to draw together a comprehensive suite of measures for the state of our natural world, drawing on established data sets and identifying where new information is required and how we might best obtain it.

The report’s publication comes during the Year of Green Action, a year-long drive to get more people from all backgrounds involved in projects to improve the natural world – and a key deliverable of the 25 YEP.