The UK has published a revised Environmental Improvement Plan that aims to more robustly address risks and opportunities to nature. As the document points out, in 2022, England’s nature services provided benefits exceeding £37.1 billion, more than any single manufacturing sector. At the same time, risks including declining soil health, water scarcity and biodiversity loss threatens to shrink the gross domestic product (GDP) by 3% over the next decade.
According to recent reports, England has become substantially nature depleted. As the report notes “For too long we have accepted a status quo that has failed our environment and our future. Our rivers and lakes suffer unacceptable levels of pollution. Climate change is devastating communities through flooding and drought. Our land and seas are under growing pressure to provide food, homes, clean energy and space for nature – all within finite limits.”
As an island nation, coastal nature is essential. The EIP notes that many of the projects focused on water and coastal areas fall under the purview of Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). As regards water and coasts, The Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) of England’s land, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems is Defra’s largest research and development program. The goal is to produce a baseline of natural assets by 2028, enabling a natural capital approach to policy and decision making.
Among the initiatives in the plan, the UK will invest £10.5 billion in flood defenses, including nature-based solutions like woodland planting and wetland restoration that can restore habitats, improve water quality, and store carbon.
The country said it would also invest £360 million into the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund over the next 12 years to support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into coastal communities.
The country will also provide a further £448 million of research and development funding for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) program to accelerate technologies necessary to decarbonize the domestic maritime sector, while addressing air quality impacts and supporting coastal communities and green growth.
The new EIA also promises to ensure that at least 49% of MPA protected features are in favorable condition and at least 46% in recovering condition, by December 2030 and to effectively conserve and manage 30% of the UK’s seas for nature by 2030. In order to achieve that goal, Defra will implement fisheries management bylaws by the end of 2026, other fisheries measures by the end of 2028 and measurement measures for other damaging activities by the end of 2030.
