Sunday, December 18, 2022
Closing the gaps
The Independent reports that despite welcoming publication of Thérèse Coffey's 13 new legally-binding environment targets on Friday, environmentalist have said they are concerned that important areas like overall water quality had been left out:br>
The government was meant to publish the slate of targets under the Environment Act earlier this autumn, but delays in bringing them forward left it in breach of the law.
They were finally released on Friday, with measures like a pledge to increase tree cover from 14.5 per cent of land area now to 16.5 per cent by 2050.
Ministers have also said they will reduce exposure to harmful particulate matter in the air by 2040 and halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, among other measures.
But environmentalists say the government has only done half its job because of the absence of measures on protected sites and overall water quality.
The targets include four specific pledges relating to water: clamping down on abandoned metal mines, reducing agricultural pollution of water, greening wastewater and reducing water demand.
But Ruth Chambers of the Greener UK coalition said: “The absence of targets for things like river health and protected sites for nature makes no sense. These are two of our most pressing problems.
“We now need the government to show how they will meet the new targets and plug the gaps where no targets exist at all.”
These targets form an important benchmark whereby we can measure the government's performance. It is worrying therefore that some areas are not covered, as that gives ministers a pass on carrying out effective work to bring about improvements.
The government was meant to publish the slate of targets under the Environment Act earlier this autumn, but delays in bringing them forward left it in breach of the law.
They were finally released on Friday, with measures like a pledge to increase tree cover from 14.5 per cent of land area now to 16.5 per cent by 2050.
Ministers have also said they will reduce exposure to harmful particulate matter in the air by 2040 and halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, among other measures.
But environmentalists say the government has only done half its job because of the absence of measures on protected sites and overall water quality.
The targets include four specific pledges relating to water: clamping down on abandoned metal mines, reducing agricultural pollution of water, greening wastewater and reducing water demand.
But Ruth Chambers of the Greener UK coalition said: “The absence of targets for things like river health and protected sites for nature makes no sense. These are two of our most pressing problems.
“We now need the government to show how they will meet the new targets and plug the gaps where no targets exist at all.”
These targets form an important benchmark whereby we can measure the government's performance. It is worrying therefore that some areas are not covered, as that gives ministers a pass on carrying out effective work to bring about improvements.
