New targets leave Environment Act ‘toothless’ – Greenpeace

Commenting on the announcement of Environment Act targets, Megan Corton Scott, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said:

These targets were supposed to give the Environment Act some bite, instead they’ve left it toothless. The government has failed to grasp the urgency of the nature crisis, seize the opportunities promised in a post-Brexit Britain, and to demonstrate any kind of climate leadership. The consultation received over 180,000 responses, with most voices calling for higher ambition across all targets, yet almost nothing has been changed from the original proposals.

Nothing new on water quality. Nothing new on wildlife-rich habitats. Nothing new on tackling plastic pollution. And a lowering of ambition for protecting and growing our woodlands. Why were these targets so delayed with nothing to show for it? It’s shameful that after such a huge public outcry over environmental protections, this consultation appears to have been used as nothing more than a box-ticking exercise by a government that hasn’t listened to the public.

This is a far cry from ‘the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth’ that people voted for in 2019. It’s not too late to strengthen these targets.The government must raise their ambitions far higher to truly tackle the damage done to our environment. The UK public is crying out for political leadership to stop the sewage being pumped into our waters, end plastic pollution and restore our natural world. Tackling the urgent and ever worsening nature crisis requires swift action – these proposals are simply not even close to being good enough.