The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) warns that progress towards improving the environment has slowed with government still largely off track in achieving its legal environmental commitments.

Responding to the OEP's progress report: 

Soil Association head of farming policy Gareth Morgan said: "It's deeply disappointing that no progress was made in the final year of the previous government, which indicates that current measures are insufficient to ensure nature recovery. The review of the Environmental Improvement Plan commissioned by the new Labour government is therefore a golden opportunity to demonstrate decisive action to address these failings and to prioritise nature in tandem with its ambitions for growth and housebuilding. The legal obligations were first established seven years ago and with each passing month the financial and environmental challenges are growing so it is imperative that a new plan is put in place to avoid further delay or we face disastrous consequences for the environment and nature.
 

"We endorse the Office for Environmental Protection's recommendations and particularly the need to accelerate the adoption of nature-friendly farming and encouraging significantly more farmers to adopt Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship. And we strongly urge the government to deliver the promised Land Use Framework in 2025 to give farmers the certainty and confidence they are demanding and a revised Food Strategy to outline its approach to a sustainable food system to mitigate environmental pressures across the food supply chain."