Mid-way through what was meant to be a decade of action for nature, a new RSPB analysis warns that the UK is off track to meet its commitments under the global plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Three years ago, 195 countries, including the UK, agreed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the world’s most ambitious plan to restore nature. But the UK’s newly released progress report shows that despite the escalating importance of nature for climate, health, food, and national security, delivery is falling short.

Richard Broadbent, Environmental Lawyer at national law firm Freeths, said:

“The RSPB’s latest publication, Delivering the UK’s Nature Promises, makes clear that the UK remains seriously off track in meeting its global commitments to halt and reverse nature’s decline. Despite the hope and anticipation that surrounded the adoption of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, the RSPB are reporting that midway through the decade, progress is far too slow, with the majority of targets not on track for delivery by 2030.

This matters because the Framework was agreed precisely to address the complete failure of the previous global agreement, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. None of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets were met globally and, by the time it was shelved, the UK was only on track to meet 5 out of the 20 targets.

This ongoing failure is made more concerning by a recent shift in government rhetoric and policy, which increasingly frames nature as a barrier to growth rather than the foundation of long‑term prosperity, health and resilience.

We urgently need a more mature and honest national debate about nature in England – one that moves beyond false choices between development or conservation and which is willing to tackle biodiversity declines with the energy, coordination, and leadership it requires. Key to that is Government creating the right conditions for private sector investment in nature, rather than constantly undermining it via conflicting policy decisions or watering down existing nature conservation regimes.”