The Government remain fully committed to the Environment Bill as a key part of delivering the manifesto commitment to create the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth. Carrying over the Bill to the next session does not diminish the ambition for our environment in any way, with Report Stage recommencing early in the Second Session and Royal Assent expected in the Autumn. Key work on implementing the Bill’s measures will continue at pace, including establishing the Office for Environmental Protection, setting long-term legally binding targets for environmental protection and creating a new Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers.
The Environment Bill will place environmental ambition and accountability at the heart of Government. Legislative measures will be introduced to address the biggest environmental priorities of our age, ensuring we can deliver on the commitment to leave the natural world in a better condition than we found it. These will include meeting net-zero by 2050, as well as wider long-term legally binding targets on biodiversity, air quality, water, and resource and waste efficiency which will be established under the Bill.
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is now expected to commence shortly after Royal Assent. The Office for Environmental Protection will have the power to take public bodies to an upper tribunal if there are breaches of the law. It is important that the OEP is independent and fully transparent in order to effectively hold the Government to account on its targets. Ministers have assured that the OEP will be operationally independent from Government, including from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This means that Ministers will not be able to set its programme of activity or influence its decision-making.
The Environment Bill requires that Statutory Instruments setting out environmental targets must be laid before parliament by 31 October 2022. Ministers will continue to develop targets through a robust, evidence-led process to meet this deadline. Long-term targets will be developed through a robust evidence-led process, and Ministers shall not prejudge where this will take them. Ministers have also committed that their proposed objectives for biodiversity targets include restoring species populations and priority habitats, which will improve the state of nature. By setting targets of at least 15 years, Ministers will ensure that Governments look beyond the short term, but this does not mean we should not make progress until 2030. The process put in place to develop targets will contribute to meeting new global goals set under the convention on biological diversity.
The UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing an ambitious and transformative post-2020 framework for global biodiversity under the convention on biological diversity. Following agreement of this framework, Ministers will publish a new strategy for nature in England that will outline how they will implement the convention on biological diversity’s new global targets domestically and meet the 25-year environmental goals for nature at the same time.
The Government recognises the importance of setting legally binding targets to support these ambitions. The Environment Bill includes a requirement to set at least one long-term, legally binding target in relation to biodiversity, as well as targets for air quality, water and resource efficiency, and waste reduction. The Government will determine the specific areas in which targets will be set using the robust and transparent target-setting, monitoring and reporting process that the Bill legislates for, and will seek advice from independent experts. I am pleased that both Parliament and the public will have the opportunity to provide input to the development of these targets.
Last year, the Government set out its approach to tackling deforestation linked to UK demand for products such as cocoa, rubber, soya, and palm oil. Combined, the new package of measures will ensure that greater resilience, traceability and sustainability are built into the UK’s supply chains by working in partnership with other countries and supporting farmers to transition to more sustainable food and land use systems. The measures include the introduction of a new law in the Environment Bill which will require greater due diligence from businesses and make it illegal for UK businesses to use key commodities if they have not been produced in line with local laws protecting forests and other natural ecosystems. The final, operational details of the proposal will be implemented through secondary legislation, which will be subject to further consultation. This will consider which commodities will be prescribed, the thresholds that determine which businesses will be subject to the requirements, the precise information businesses will be required to report on and the level of fines.
Connecting more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment to enjoy its many benefits for their health and wellbeing is a key part of the 25-Year Environment Plan. Under the Bill, long-term targets can be set out for any aspects of the natural environment or people’s enjoyment of it. The Agriculture Act is one of the most important environmental reforms for many years and sets out powers to reward farmers and land managers who protect our environment, including providing access to the countryside. The Environment Bill requires the Government to set out at least one target in four priority areas, air quality, biodiversity, water waste and resource efficiency, as well as the fine particulate matter target. There is also scope to set further future targets.
The Resources and Waste Strategy sets out Government plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan, however for the most problematic plastics the Government will go faster, working towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025. Since the plastic bag charge was first introduced in 2015, the Government has successfully prevented billions of plastic bags being sold and ending up in the ocean and environment. Thanks to the public's support of the single-use plastic bag charge, there has been a 95 per cent cut in plastic bag sales in the major supermarkets since its introduction. In a public consultation in 2019, the Government proposed to double the charge to 10p and extend it to all retailers. In 2019, consultations ran on a number of key policy measures set out in the strategy: reforming existing packaging waste regulations; exploring the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers; increasing consistency in the recycling system; the Environment Bill includes powers to enable Government to deliver these measures.
You may also be pleased to know that in Parliament itself, the sale of bottled water has been discontinued, ending the circulation of 120,000 plastic bottles annually. Reusable coffee cups have also been introduced within Whitehall as well, and new compostable products have been replacing single-use plastics previously used for things like stationery and condiment sachets. From June 2019, the consumption of plastic carrier bags in retail outlets on the Parliamentary Estate was reduced, with paper bags replacing plastic alternatives in retail outlets.
The UK has left the EU and EU REACH regulations have been brought into UK law. The UK continues to seek high standards of protection for the environment and human health in the UK REACH regime. The Environment Bill already includes safeguards to protect the fundamental principles of REACH, and therefore the proposed amendment was not necessary.
Outside the EU Britain can develop global gold standard environmental policies. Having left the Common Agricultural Policy we can use public money for public goods, rewarding environmentally responsible land use, and leaving the Common Fisheries Policy means we are able to grant access and allocate quotas based on sustainability, allowing us to pursue the highest standards in marine conservation.