Pledge to halt decline in species and protect land
Labour has pledged to halt the decline of British species and protect at least 30% of the land and sea by 2030 if it is elected.
Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, also vowed to set up a new land use framework that would prioritise the protection of nature, and to deliver on targets to improve the UK’s environment.
“Nature is under threat in Britain,” Reed said. “The Conservatives have left it one of the most naturedepleted countries in the world. Almost half of our bird species and a quarter of our mammal species are at risk of extinction. Precious landscapes in our national parks are in decline. And our rivers, lakes and seas are awash with record levels of toxic sewage.”
It is the party’s first significant intervention on nature issues as Britain gears up for a general election this year in which environmental concerns will play a leading role.
The Conservatives have been criticised for setting ambitious environmental goals without putting in place the policies and regulations required to meet them. Instead, many regulations have in effect gone unenforced as government bodies, including the Environment Agency and Natural England, have had their budgets reduced and had to cut staff.
The Office for Environmental Protection, the public watchdog, has found that the government is off track on its nature targets.
Upholding the targets of halting biodiversity decline and protecting 30% of the UK’s land and seas by 2030 will mean almost all of this taking place in Labour’s first term of government, as the next parliament is likely to run from this year or early next year until 2029.
That will be a huge task given that the targets are currently off track and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is reluctant to make any new spending commitments. A potential commitment of £28bn to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and kickstart a green economy was watered down in February.
Nature campaigners welcomed the pledges but called for more detail on how they would be delivered.
Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said Labour was right to recognise that prioritising nature was “political gold dust” and would resonate with the public.
“The Conservatives have pretended nature is opposed to farming, which is just stoking a culture war,” he said. However, he said Reed should go further and set out a fully fledged “nature manifesto” before the election, which Reed had indicated she would do.