Britain’s natural assets ‘in state of decline’

MUCH OF the UK’s natural environment is “still deteriorating”, with costs to the economy and businesses, an official report has found.

The Government has pledged to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it found it, and is set to produce a 25-year plan setting out how it will achieve that.

Its Natural Capital Committee, which looks at parts of the environment that provide valuable goods and services such as flood protection and soils for growing food and storing carbon emissions, said the pledge was “achievable”.

But natural assets and the benefits they provide are in decline, with costs becoming “increasingly apparent” in flooding, soil degradation, air pollution, declines in pollinating insects and loss of outdoor recreation areas, it said.

The committee called for the 25-year environment plan to be moved forward rapidly to deliver improvements in natural resources before 2020, blaming slower-than-expected progress on the plan in part on the referendum and Brexit.

The report said: “Currently many aspects of the natural environment are still deteriorating.”

Responding to the report, the chairwoman of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield, said: “It is time for the Government to place the environment at the heart of its decision-making.

“The Environmental Audit Committee has called for a new Environmental Protection Act to address the gaps that will be left by leaving the European Union.

“It is good to see the Natural Capital Committee endorse our view.”

An Environment Department (Defra) spokeswoman said: “As we leave the EU, we have a unique opportunity to develop tailored environmental policies for our country and we will consider the recommendations outlined in this report.”