The Environment Bill 2019-21 was introduced to government on 30 January 2020. The speed at which this Bill has been brought to the commons is indicative of the Government wanting to assure the nation of its manifesto commitment to tackle climate change and protect and enhance nature. Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers has declared that the Bill will make the UK ‘a world leader on the environment’.

The Environment Bill joins the updated Agriculture Bill and the Fisheries Bill in forming the new legal framework for environmental governance post-Brexit. For the past four decades, legislation on these issues has been predominantly driven by EU policy. However, it is now up to national governance to determine our future environmental landscape.

This 2019-21 Environment Bill is almost identical to the previous 2019 Environment Bill which was abandoned prior to last year’s election (read our analysis of the 2019 Bill). The Bill puts the ambitions of the 25 Year Environment Plan onto a statutory footing. The accompanying policy statement explains that this Bill is one of the key vehicles for bringing about urgent and meaningful action to combat the global environmental and climate crisis.

There are two new key additions to the 2019-21 Bill.

Firstly, the Bill requires the Government to publish a report on the developments in international environmental legislation. This report will be produced every two years and findings will feed into national environmental plans and target setting.

Secondly, powers have been included to stop the export of polluting plastic waste to non-OECD countries. This is to prevent the offshoring of waste and to boost the domestic recycling system.

The provisions that remain within the Bill that are of significance for land managers are:

• Legally binding environmental principles for all future policy making. The principles are: environmental protection should be integrated into policy-making; preventative action to avert environmental damage; the (environmentally) precautionary principle; environmental damage should be rectified at source; and the polluter pays principle.

• Long-term targets over periods of at least 15 years will be set in relation to the natural environment (on plants, wildlife, habitats, air, water, land and natural systems). One long-term target will be set in each of the four priority areas of air quality, water, biodiversity and waste by October 2022. Government must set and meet a target to reduce fine particulate matter. An Environmental Improvement Plan will be set and reviewed every year.

• The Office for Environmental Protection will be established, as an independent domestic watchdog, to advise on environmental law, monitor improvements and deal with failures to comply with regulations. The office’s powers will cover all climate change legislation and hold the government to account on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

• Waste and water are both targeted in the Bill, including reformation to water abstraction licence legislation.

• Biodiversity net gain is mandated as a principle of planning policy, requiring a 10 per cent uplift in biodiversity for developments. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will enable biodiversity net gain.

• Conservation covenants are proposed within the Bill as a tool that landowners can use to secure conservation benefits when land is sold or passed on.

Despite initial concern that the Environment Bill would victimise landowners and managers, it may offer more opportunities than barriers, in particular through biodiversity net gain and the polluter pays principle. These could boost offsetting markets, in turn generating new income streams for landowners.

There are still many questions around the specificity of environmental targets and the structure of the Office for Environmental Protection. Ultimately, as with most policy, the devil is in the final detail.

However, the fact that the Bill has been introduced so quickly into this new Parliament does signal that the Government is taking the environment seriously. It is reassuring to see both the Environment and Agriculture Bills are back on the political table for proper and productive discussion.

Further information

Contact Savills Rural Research