Thread by @adamvaughan_uk

The UK government is now a month & a half late on a legal deadline for Environment Act targets.

The expectation was they'd be announced this week at #COP15, but I'm hearing that is now unlikely.

Recess starts next week, so will we get an early Xmas present? Or wait for 2023?

NEW

UK government has published overdue Environment Act targets on everything from pollution to nature recovery

gov.uk/government/con…

(Please flag any targets that have been strengthened or weakened compared to the consultations)

So a target to cut farming’s contribution to water pollution in rivers by 40% (phosphorous and nitrogen) has been pushed back a year, from 2037 and 2038. So weaker than proposed.

Interesting choice given public outcry over state of rivers and pollution.

Same one year delay for a target on water pollution from sewage works.

Tree-planting goal weakened from 17.5% of land in 2050 to 16.5% in 2050.

Tree cover, not tree-planting

Air pollution goal for 2040 remains unchanged, and is twice the WHO’s new recommended guideline for PM2.5

Frank Kelly of Imperial College London tells me the target is “ridiculous” and should have been brought forward to 2030.

Early reaction coming in is negative.

Charles Watson, @RiverActionUK Chairman said: “We are appalled at the Government’s lack of ambition for our rivers. This not just morally wrong but also a political misstep given the public outcry about the state of our rivers.”

Tiny clarification on the two water targets. The shift from 2037 to 2038 is due to the Environment Act targets being published month and a half late. Not an intent to “water them down”. But the result is the same, a later target date…

England’s post-Brexit green watchdog, the OEP, welcomes the new targets but says “the delay was deeply regrettable given that urgent action is needed to protect and improve the environment.”