The UK remains “largely off track” in meeting its nature obligations despite modest improvements over the past year, a report by the Office for Environmental Protection has found.
The assessment, published on Tuesday, is the fourth annual report from the UK regulator assessing the government’s progress against environmental targets set under the Environment Act 2021 and the Environmental Improvement Plan, published in 2023 by the previous Conservative administration.
The analysis covers the annual reporting period running until the end of March 2025, and does not reflect the updated targets set out in the government’s revised plan, published in December.
It finds that good progress has been made on just 12 of the government’s 43 environmental targets. Nineteen have seen mixed progress, while only limited progress has been made towards the remaining dozen.
Among the 13 statutory targets set under the Environment Act, nine have seen mixed or limited progress, including efforts to improve the condition of marine protected areas and to cut residual waste.
Meanwhile, good progress has been recorded in four areas, including the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitat and reductions in phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater.
The latest report shows a slight improvement since last year’s assessment in areas such as clean air, climate change mitigation and managing exposure to chemicals and pesticides, with progress in each moving from limited to mixed.
It attributes the gains in clean energy to “positive steps” that have been taken to cut vehicle emissions, including Labour’s decision to reinstate the 2030 deadline for the phaseout of cars solely powered by internal combustion engines and increased funding for active travel.
Looking ahead, however, the OEP finds that the government is largely off track on nearly half (21) of its nature targets and obligations, with just five being primarily on track. Sixteen are just partially on track, and one could not be assessed because of insufficient evidence, says the report.
“Despite the government’s own assessments, including the Dasgupta Review, making the case time and again how central nature is to our economy, the damaging idea that nature is a ‘blocker’ to growth remains entrenched at the top of government,” said Amy McDonnell, co-director of the Zero Hour climate and nature campaign.
The 2021 Dasgupta report commissioned by the UK government sets out a framework showing how nature should be accounted for in economics and decision-making.
Clock is ticking on nature recovery
In its previous progress report, the regulator provided 44 recommendations aimed at improving the UK’s natural environment. During the following year, the government made good progress on only five of them.
In its latest report, the OEP reiterates its earlier recommendations, again urging the government to accelerate action in eight priority areas. These include reforming nature-friendly farming, maximising the contribution of protected sites, accelerating action in the marine environment, and developing a circular economy framework.
It also calls on the government to mobilise greater private investment for nature recovery and regulate more effectively to support delivery of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
The report says the UK government will have to “move mountains by 2030” if it is to lead on nature recovery. “It needs to provide the leadership and concerted effort required to achieve the significant environmental improvements to which it is committed and are so urgently needed,” it adds.
Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit senior analyst Tom Cantillon says failure to act now would mean missing the UK’s climate and nature targets and delaying the resilience benefits that nature can deliver. “Nature restoration should have the same urgency as housing and infrastructure — healthy ecosystems aren’t a blocker to growth, they’re the foundation of it,” he says.
Read the full OEP report here.