Appendix-Government response
Introduction
The Government welcomes the Environmental Audit Committee's
constructive report on this important subject. We have taken careful
note of the Committee's conclusions and recommendations, the main
thrust of which we accept.
In particular, we welcome the Committee's recognition
that good progress has been made in some respects towards meeting
the EU's 2010 target to halt biodiversity loss, and support its
conclusion that a cross-Departmental approach is needed to achieve
biodiversity objectives.
The Committee's report highlights the importance
of the Government's proposed National Ecosystem Assessment. Accordingly,
this response summarises our current intentions in respect of
the National Ecosystem Assessment, and then addresses each of
the Committee's conclusions and recommendations in turn.
National Ecosystem Assessment
In July 2008, the Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs announced that Defra would provide funding
for a National Ecosystem Assessment for England, based broadly
on the approach taken in the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Following discussions with the Devolved Administrations,
it has now been agreed that the geographical scope of the Assessment
will be broadened to include Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The main aims of the Assessment will be:
- to give a clear view of the
current and possible future state of the natural environment and
the provision of ecosystem services;
- to create a compelling and coherent narrative
on the state and value of the natural environment and ecosystem
services, to help raise awareness of their importance to human
well-being and future economic prosperity; and
- to develop the assessment through an inclusive
process that encourages different stakeholders and communities
of interest to interact and share learning, and in particular
to foster better inter-disciplinary cooperation between natural
and social scientists.
Defra is currently collecting information from a
wide range of stakeholders on sources of data and expertise that
will enable the Assessment to be as rigorous as possible. The
Assessment is due to report at the end of 2010, with an interim
report planned for the end of 2009.
Engagement with other related national and international
initiatives will be a key theme throughout the Assessment.
Response to conclusions and recommendations
1. The Government is unlikely to meet its 2010
target to halt biodiversity loss. Although good progress has been
made in some respects, a new target and a new approach will be
needed to address the dramatic biodiversity loss that is occurring
in England. (Paragraph 15)
The Government accepts that the UK is unlikely to
meet in full the EU's 2010 target to halt biodiversity loss. As
Defra noted in its evidence to the Committee, that target was
not realistically achievable in its entirety, but has been effective
in raising awareness and galvanising activity to an extent which
would not have happened without such a target. This situation
applies in many other EU countries, as has been confirmed in the
European Commission's recently published mid-term assessment on
the implementation of the EC Biodiversity Action Plan.
The Government welcomes the Committee's acknowledgement
of good progress in some areas (e.g. protected sites, where the
proportion of SSSIs in favourable or recovering condition has
increased from 56% in 2003 to 84.7% at the end of 2008).
The England Biodiversity Strategy indicators updated
in November 2008 offered further evidence. The eight indicators
covered public engagement in biodiversity issues, nutrient levels
in rivers and lakes, salmon stocks, and the abundance of species
sensitive to climate change. For the six indicators where there
was sufficient data to make a judgement, all showed improving
trends, including an improvement since 2000 in the quality of
rivers and salmon stocks They also showed an increase in the number
of people volunteering for wildlife and visiting nature reserves
and woodlands.
We recognise, however, that the current situation
offers no grounds for complacency and that more needs to be done.
The Government also agrees that there needs to be a successor
to the current 2010 target. We expect this to be agreed internationally,
under the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD). The way we intend to contribute to this process is summarised
in Section 3 below.
2. Halting biodiversity loss must not be the end-point
for biodiversity conservation in England. We should go beyond
this to enable growth in biodiversity into the future. Achieving
this will require leadership, effective policies and delivery
all firmly rooted in the scientific evidence. (Paragraph 16)
The Government has already gone beyond halting biodiversity
loss, achieving increases in some key areas.
We have set quantitative targets for the recovery
of priority habitats and species, which go beyond halting their
loss to restoring and expanding priority habitats and increasing
the populations of priority species. Details can be found at http://www.ukbap-reporting.org.uk/outcomes/targets.asp
3. To ensure that momentum is not lost after 2010
the Government should adopt a new target and vision for halting
and reversing biodiversity loss by 2020. This needs to be accompanied
by specific, measurable and achievable targets for habitats and
species. (Paragraph 17)
The Government strongly supports the need to adopt
a new target to focus activity after 2010. A successor to the
current 2010 target will be negotiated through the CBD, probably
with additional interpretation at regional and national levels.
It is likely to look at least to 2020, and perhaps further ahead.
We are committed to working with national, EU and
international partners to identify and agree a successor target
that is both realistic and challenging. A number of key meetings
are being planned internationally in the run-up to the CBD Conference
of the Parties in 2010, and the UK is considering hosting an event
as part of this programme if it can add real value to the process.
Individual habitat and species targets are already
in place in the UK via our Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP); we
will assess the continuing relevance of these in the context of
the successor to the current 2010 target.
In broad terms, the Government believes that the
existing suite of indicators, which have been developed since
the 2010 target was adopted, should continue to provide the headline
measures of progress towards any new target. These indicators
are underpinned by the more detailed monitoring arrangements in
place under BAP and for activities such as SSSI PSA target delivery.
Abandoning current monitoring frameworks and replacing them with
something new would risk being a major and unnecessary distraction
from delivery.
4. To halt biodiversity loss, to reverse historic
losses, and to make biodiversity more robust in the face of future
pressures, an ecosystem approach will be required. We therefore
welcome the Government's plan to conduct an ecosystem assessment
for England. The Government must ensure that this is completed
and published at the earliest opportunity. In addition to showing
how an ecosystem approach can be delivered, the assessment should
consider:
- the protection of biodiversity
outside protected areas, particularly on small sites that are
not protected by statutory environmental impact assessment;
- how agri-environment schemes can deliver habitat
creation and enhancement, possibly through a more targeted approach,
and whether wider agricultural support mechanisms are aligned
with an ecosystems approach;
- how development can lead to gains in biodiversity
and ecosystem services (such as through compensation for biodiversity
loss and the provision of green infrastructure), and whether development
policies are aligned with the ecosystems approach;
- and scenarios for a future vision of the natural
environment linked to a new target for halting and reversing biodiversity
loss. (Paragraph 22)
The National Ecosystem Assessment is not of itself
designed to achieve all the things the Committee's report asks
of it but, together with the G8 Environment Ministers' initiative
on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), it will
do much to stimulate and facilitate the action required.
The National Ecosystem Assessment will consider terrestrial,
freshwater and marine ecosystems and biodiversity across the UK,
and will not be restricted simply to protected areas. It will
consider a range of pressures on the natural environment in developing
future scenarios, and possible policy responses to issues that
arise from this analysis. The conservation and enhancement of
biodiversity may be one such area highlighted from the analysis
for further study, but it is too early to predict at this stage.
The National Ecosystem Assessment will develop scenarios
for possible future states of the natural environment and ecosystem
services. This work will be done in parallel with work to define
a new, post 2010, target for biodiversity, and we will ensure
that work on the two projects is mutually informative and also
takes into account the wide variety of other work currently being
conducted in this area, including the TEEB study, which will report
over a similar timescale.
TEEB is now being taken forward in a CBD framework
under the leadership of Pavan Sukhdev. Phase 1 was warmly welcomed
at the CBD conference in Bonn in May 2008, and the second and
final stage, due to report to the 10th CBD conference
in Nagoya in October 2010, is well under way. The UK has provided
£100k, and sits on the steering committee, for Phase 2. In
view of the potential importance of this work, the Secretary of
State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs hosted an inter-Departmental
seminar, led by Pavan Sukhdev, in November 2008 and is following
it up personally to ensure that the key messages are registered
in the relevant international fora, as well as domestically.
The role of agriculture and land management in the
current and future provision of ecosystem services will be covered
in the National Ecosystem Assessment. Additionally, a further
Defra-sponsored research project is currently assessing the provision
of ecosystem services through the Environmental Stewardship scheme.
This will report shortly.
Environmental Stewardship (ES) already delivers widespread
benefits for biodiversity through habitat creation, enhancement
and protection. Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), open to all farmers
in England, supports basic levels of good environmental practice
through simple land management techniques. Higher Level Stewardship
(HLS) uses a map-based targeting system to focus the environmental
benefits of HLS delivery in priority geographic areas where environmental
outcomes are likely to be most valuable. The targeting system
brings together information on, and priorities for, biodiversity,
maintenance and enhancement of landscape quality and character,
natural resource protection, public access and protection of the
historic environment to form multi-objective target areas covering
roughly a third of England (and therefore much more of the country
than the protected areas network). Important features and opportunities
outside these target areas can also be included through regional
HLS themes. ES as a whole, and its predecessor schemes, are under-pinned
by basic cross compliance measures requiring good agricultural
environmental condition.
In addition, Defra and CLG are co-sponsoring a Land
Use Futures Foresight project, which is investigating the many
uses to which we put our land now and in the future. Working closely
with this project, trends in development and land use will also
be considered as part of the National Ecosystem Assessment.
The latest results from the Countryside Survey, published
in November 2008, provide an additional source of information
on the status of biodiversity in the wider countryside, including
small sites and habitat fragments that do not have statutory protection.
The Government is also investing in both the National Biodiversity
Network (£674k between 2008 and 2011) and Local Record Centres
(£1.17m over the same period), specifically in order to improve
the availability of information on biodiversity outside protected
areas.
5. Defra and its delivery bodies are working to
halt biodiversity loss. To be able to achieve this, and also to
deliver the ecosystems approach needed to protect biodiversity
into the future, it is crucial that all departments work in concert.
Public Service Agreement 28 might facilitate cross-departmental
work on biodiversity. However, we are concerned that a number
of policies indicate the continued failure of departments to consider
biodiversity impacts. In particular, we note that although the
Department for Communities and Local Government is a formal delivery
partner for PSA 28, it appears to have failed to transpose this
responsibility into its Departmental Strategic Objectives. Without
appropriate mitigation activities being taken, some of its policies,
such as brownfield development and housing targets, might contribute
to biodiversity loss. Its Departmental Strategic Objectives must
be updated and it must align its policies with the ecosystem approach.
Another example is the failure of the Department for Business,
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's renewable energy strategy consultation
document to address the potential impacts of bioenergy policy.
(Paragraph 29)
The Government agrees that halting and then reversing
biodiversity loss is a cross-cutting issue and that an integrated
approach, involving the active participation of all relevant Departments,
is needed if we are to succeed.
The new PSA framework provides a powerful opportunity
for relevant Government Departments to work together to deliver
natural environment outcomes. PSA28 is a cross-government PSA,
and CLG, DfT, BERR and DECC are all delivery partners and are
represented on the PSA delivery board. This is facilitating constructive
joined-up working within Government as well as helping ensure
that natural environment considerations are fully reflected in
policies that impact on the natural environment such as housing
and transport. As a result, we have already seen encouraging evidence
of this new system facilitating better engagement on cross-cutting
issues e.g. ecotowns.
CLG has no plans to change its planning Departmental
Strategic Objective (DSO). However as a delivery partner for the
Natural Environment PSA, CLG shares responsibility for delivering
this PSA. The PSA Delivery Board plays a crucial role in holding
CLG and other delivery partners to account for their contribution
to the PSA. Bearing in mind the importance of CLG's contribution,
Defra and CLG are about to undertake a short bilateral review
of CLG's role as a delivery partner for PSA 28, exploring where
synergies and tensions exist, including on biodiversity. This
review will report in Spring 2009.
The Housing Green Paper 'Homes for the future: more
affordable, more sustainable' (published last July), sets out
how the Government aims to ensure that its house building targets
meet the challenges posed by climate change and the need to protect
the environment. We recognise that new development brings environmental
pressures. However, planned strategic growth rather than incremental
development should allow environmental pressures to be planned
for, accommodated and mitigated at a strategic land site level.
Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) prioritises the
use of brownfield land for development, as this
can reduce the pressure on 'green field' sites. However, one of
the overarching objectives of planning policy is to ensure housing
is provided in suitable locations. PPS3 states in clear terms
that there is no presumption that land is suitable for housing
simply because it is brownfield. At the local level, Local Development
Documents should set out a strategy for the planned location of
new housing which contributes to the achievement of sustainable
development. Local Planning Authorities should, working with stakeholders,
set out the criteria to be used for identifying broad locations
and specific sites taking into account any environmental constraints
such as the need to protect natural resources, including biodiversity.
More generally, PPS9 (Biodiversity and Nature Conservation)
contains policies to protect from development those brownfield
sites which have significant biodiversity interest, as well as
stating that local planning authorities should maximise the opportunities
for enhancing biodiversity in development proposals.
DECC was created as a new Department in October 2008
to bring together the Government's responsibilities for energy
and climate change, to give an even greater focus to solving the
twin challenges of climate change and ensuring that energy supply
is affordable, secure and sustainable. The Department will work
in full collaboration with other Departments, including Defra
in relation to biodiversity. On the specific point the Committee
raised on bioenergy and the Renewable Energy Strategy, the consultation
document issued in June 2008 referred to the importance of ensuring
that biomass production was sustainable, and sought views on measures
to ensure the sustainability of biomass supply, both domestically
produced and imported. The Department has commissioned studies
to extend the evidence on environmental implications of bioenergy
and the availability of sustainable supplies, and is working with
Defra to ensure that the large increase in renewable energy needed
to meet the UK's obligations under the EU Renewable Energy Directive
can be achieved without compromising environmental protection.
The Directive, which was agreed by the European Parliament in
December 2008, contains sustainability standards for biofuels
for transport, and a further process to determine the potential
extension of standards to all biomass used for energy production.
6. Delivering an ecosystem approach will rely
to a large extent on regional and local government, particularly
when it comes to planning. A number of recent changes might facilitate
this, such as the production of single regional strategies, which
could provide for the detailed mapping of biodiversity in a region
and for opportunities for its protection and enhancement. (Paragraph
32)
The Government agrees with the Committee about the
importance of regional and local government in delivering a healthy
natural environment. The integrated approach to regional strategies
described in Section 7 below will help them to achieve this.
In the context of PSA 28, Natural England and the
Environment Agency, working with the Forestry Commission and Government
Offices, are leading a review of the state of the regional evidence
base across the nine English regions, so that they will be in
a position to use environmental evidence as effectively as possible
to inform and influence the new integrated regional strategies.
7. However, some aspects of the Sub-National Review
might undermine an ecosystems approach. In particular we are concerned
that the Regional Development Agencies responsible for drawing
up the single regional strategies (as well as acting as the regional
planning bodies), will have an overriding focus on economic growth
as their performance will be based on a single economic growth
indicator. There is also a considerable risk that sustainable
development issues will not carry much weight in the decision
making process given the absence of ecosystem service information
at regional and local scales. (Paragraph 33)
The Government consulted on proposals announced by
the Sub-National Review in spring 2008. In the light of the consultation
feedback, Government has decided to refine its plans for regional
strategy and has set this out in the Government response to Prosperous
Places: Taking Forward the Review of Sub-National Economic Development
(published in November 2008) as well as part 5 of the Local Democracy,
Economic Development and Construction Bill introduced in December
2008. Accordingly, the revised proposal is to give joint responsibility
to both the RDA and a local authorities' Leaders Board, for regional
strategy preparation, implementation and monitoring. Both bodies
will be the 'responsible regional authorities', thus removing
the need to designate a regional planning body.
In taking forward regional strategy, the RDA and
Leaders' Board will be required to engage with stakeholders, including
those with environmental expertise.
The Bill sets out the purpose of regional strategy
as sustainable economic growth, development and the use of land
and stipulates that it must include policies designed to contribute
to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. Sustainable
economic growth is defined as economic growth that can be sustained
and is within environmental limits, but also enhances the environment
and social welfare, and avoids greater extremes in future economic
cycles. In addition, the bodies responsible for a regional strategy
must carry out their responsibility with the objective of contributing
to the achievement of sustainable development. Government intends
to provide further guidance.
Defra will be working with stakeholders over the
next few months to develop a single sustainable development framework
and an appraisal process which will form part of the guidance
on preparing regional strategies.
8. We are concerned that Planning Policy Statement
9 and the biodiversity duty have not adequately protected or enhanced
biodiversity and that such opportunities continue to be missed.
(Paragraph 37)
The biodiversity duty is still relatively new, but
Defra is undertaking a review of its take-up and effectiveness
to date. Tenders for this contract have been received and the
final report is due for publication in Autumn 2009. In the light
of the results of that review, we will consider what if any further
action is needed.
The Government recognises that there is a widespread
concern among the biodiversity community that PPS9 includes appropriate
policies but fails to deliver adequately on the ground. This is
one of the issues that the bilateral review between Defra and
CLG (being undertaken through the PSA 28 Delivery Board, and referred
to in section 5 above) will need to address.
9. We recommend that the ecosystem assessment:
- assesses whether the single
regional strategies follow the ecosystems approach and adequately
provide for biodiversity protection and enhancement;
- assesses whether, when combined, the single
regional strategies will provide the England-wide network required
for biodiversity;
- describes practically how
an ecosystem approach can be delivered at regional and local scales;
and
- demonstrates the value of
ecosystem services at regional and local scales. (Paragraph 37)
The National Ecosystem Assessment will be complete
before the single regional strategies have been finalised. However,
Defra has commissioned several pieces of research (details of
which can be found on its website) that explore the opportunities
and challenges of applying an ecosystems approach at different
spatial scales. Additionally, through the Government Office network,
regions are now sharing knowledge and best practice on the valuation
of ecosystem services and embedding an ecosystems approach at
regional and local levels. We also anticipate that, through case
studies, the National Ecosystem Assessment will investigate the
value of a range of ecosystem services at various spatial scales
to support its overall assessment of the current state of provision
of these services nationally.
10. In the mean-time other policies and development
risk causing further biodiversity loss. It is critically important
that all levels of government ensure that all policies are reviewed
to align them with an ecosystems approach. (Paragraph 38)
In December 2007, Defra published "Securing
a healthy natural environment: An action plan for embedding an
ecosystems approach". This contains a series of actions which
constitute an ambitious programme of work to deliver a decisive
shift towards an ecosystems approach to policy making and delivery.
It provides the basis for securing wider engagement across government,
with actions for Defra, CLG, DfT, DfID and BERR, and further actions
supporting the embedding of an ecosystems approach in the regions.
The PSA 28 Delivery Board will also play an important
role in ensuring that the natural environment is fully taken into
account in key policies across Government. And the national ecosystem
assessment will give further impetus to this work.
11. The Government has a clear moral and legal
duty to help protect the biodiversity of the UK Overseas Territories
and Crown Dependencies, where it is the eleventh hour for many
species. We are extremely concerned that recommendations that
we have made in the past that would have helped to protect the
environment of the Overseas Territories have been ignored. The
Government must:
- adopt a truly joined-up
approach to environmental protection the UKOTs and Crown Dependencies,
by bringing together all relevant departments including the FCO,
MoJ, DfID, Defra, DCMS and MoD with the governments of the UKOTs;
- make better use of the Inter-Departmental
Group on biodiversity to provide more oversight and support for
the development and implementation of effective environmental
protection policy in the UKOTs, and expand the Group to include
other relevant departments;
- have Defra assume joint responsibility for
the UKOTs, and reflect this in future spending settlements; and
- address the dire lack of funds and information
for environmental protection in the UKOTs. An ecosystem assessment
should be conducted in partnership with each UKOT in order to
provide the baseline environmental data required and to outline
the effective response options needed to halt biodiversity loss.
(Paragraph 46)
12. With leadership, and a relatively small sum
of money, the incredible biodiversity found in our overseas territories
can be safeguarded into the future. One of the most important
contributions that the Government could make to slowing the catastrophic
global biodiversity loss currently occurring would be to accept
its responsibilities and to provide more support for the UK Overseas
Territories in this area. (Paragraph 47)
The Government agrees that more effective and better
integrated support is needed for the UK's Overseas Territories
in order to halt the loss of their biodiversity. Although environmental
management of the Overseas Territories has been devolved to the
individual Territories, we recognise that many of the Territories
do not have the necessary financial or personnel capacity to ensure
the protection and safeguarding of the local environment and therefore
need help.
Since the submission of its evidence to the Committee,
Defra has committed a further £200k to biodiversity in the
Overseas Territories in 2008/09, to fund baseline survey work,
enhance research capacity in the Territories, and support small
conservation projects identified as priorities by Territory governments.
This adds to the extra funding Defra had already committed for
2008/09 through the Flagship Species Fund (£50k), the added
priority given to the Overseas Territories under the Darwin Initiative
(with results of the latest round expected in February 2009),
the extension of Defra's commitment to give extra support through
the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (£20k),
and Defra's continuing funding through JNCC (£200k in 2008/09).
Support from FCO and DfID continues through the Overseas
Territories Environment Programme (OTEP). OTEP supports the implementation
of the Environment Charters, and environmental management more
generally, in the UK Overseas Territories, but has focused on
biodiversity conservation given the Territories' significance
for biodiversity. FCO and DfID have each committed £3m to
OTEP for the period 2004-10.
The Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on biodiversity
(IDMGb) comprises Ministers from DEFRA, FCO and DfID and the chair
of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC); in addition,
Ministers from other Government Departments can be invited for
specific matters. While the Group's remit covers international
biodiversity as a whole, biodiversity conservation in the Overseas
Territories is currently its main focus.
Through the IDMGb the Government is developing a
strategy for biodiversity protection in the Overseas Territories,
building on a recent assessment of priorities for biodiversity
conservation action carried out by JNCC and a similar assessment
carried out by RSPB. JNCC will produce this strategy and the IDMGb
has asked them to report by the end of May. The strategy will
need to be underpinned by urgent analysis of the costs—and
benefits—it would bring, together with confirmation of priorities
for immediate action.
The IDMGb will also consider the potential to tap
into other funding streams—both governmental and non-governmental
- to help support biodiversity conservation in the Overseas Territories.
DfID has provided JNCC with funding (£35k) to investigate
alternative sources of funding for environmental management in
the Overseas Territories. This is expected to conclude in the
summer. But it is important to stress that funding is not the
only issue which needs to be addressed. Capacity for carrying
out projects in many of the Territories is very limited owing
to their small populations and consequent lack of relevant expertise
and/or knowledge. So there needs to be an holistic approach for
each of the Territories, taking account of their diversity, needs,
wishes and own identified priorities, as well as the availability
of funding.
There is a need for more comprehensive information
on the status of ecosystems, as well as current and future threats,
in the Overseas Territories. Baseline environmental information
is available for all the Territories but the scope and quality
of this information is variable, and in many cases it falls short
of a full ecosystem assessment. Data on the marine environment
is especially poor. The most important gaps in data have been
identified as part of JNCC's recent assessment of priorities for
conservation action in the Overseas Territories. This assessment
will guide future work.
January 2009
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