Is the 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan an Improvement on its Predecessor?

On December 1, 2025, the UK government unveiled its revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) – the first major update since 2023. This cross-government blueprint charts a five-year path to halt nature's decline, boost environmental quality, and fuel sustainable growth. Rooted in the Environment Act 2021's statutory targets, it replaces the previous plan's "vague ambitions" with detailed delivery roadmaps and interim milestones.

At its heart: 10 goals spanning nature restoration, clean air/water, chemicals/waste management, circular economy, climate adaptation, biosecurity, hazards, and public access to green spaces. Backed by £588 million in new funding (e.g., £500m for landscape recovery, £85m for peatlands), it promises accountability through annual reporting overseen by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

What the EIP Promises: Key Wins for Nature, Health, and Economy

The plan ramps up ambition, blending environmental fixes with growth, from greener jobs to resilient infrastructure.

• Nature and Biodiversity Surge

  • Commit to creating/restoring 250,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats by 2030 (an area bigger than Greater London), up 110,000 hectares from prior pledges, via agri-schemes and Landscape Recovery projects.

  • Renews "30 by 30" push: Protect 30% of land/seas for nature by 2030, integrating marine protected areas (MPAs) and Local Nature Recovery Strategies (all 48 due by end-2025).

  • Halve invasive species establishment rates (vs. 2000 baseline) to shield farms and ecosystems.Impact: Could reverse declines in 1-in-6 species at extinction risk, per recent State of Nature reports.

    
    

• Cleaner Air, Healthier Lives

  • Slash population exposure to PM2.5 (fine particulates linked to 40,000+ premature UK deaths/year) by 30% by 2030 (vs. 2018), more stringent than the prior targets of 22% by 2028.

  • Launch consultation on stricter wood-burning stove emissions (e.g., eco-design upgrades) and tighter smoke-control area rules – targeting domestic burning's 20% share of PM2.5, while exempting cultural events like Bonfire Night.Impact: Aligns UK with EU standards (10µg/m³ by 2030), easing NHS strain from asthma/heart disease.

  
  

• Circular Economy, Clean Water, and Waste Wins

  • Drive waste reduction (50% per capita municipal drop by 2042 vs. 2019) via packaging reforms and anti-litter enforcement.

  • Enhance catchment management for rivers/lakes/seas, including 8 mine-water schemes, 20 diffuse pollution fixes, and 55 studies by 2030.Impact: Builds flood resilience and cuts agricultural runoff, supporting £104bn water sector upgrades.

    
    

• Nature as "National Capital" for Growth

  • Positions environment as infrastructure underpinning 1.5m homes, clean energy, food security, and jobs (e.g., £10bn from recycling reforms).Impact: Aligns with "Plan for Change" missions, fostering green sectors like eco-tourism and sustainable farming.

What’s Caught Media and Conservation Attention:

What’s being welcomed:

• The large new habitat restoration commitment and the 250,000-hectare target have been widely applauded. Many commentators say this gives real substance to the UK’s biodiversity ambitions, anchoring them in land-use change rather than vague promises.

• The air quality ambition, particularly with PM2.5 reduction and tougher regulation on wood-burning stoves, has been described as a strong step forward for public health, especially in urban areas (London, Midlands, and Northern cities) often suffering from poor air quality.

• The decision to link environmental improvement with growth and infrastructure, framing nature as economic and social capital appears to shift mindset away from the old trade-off between “development OR nature.” And some in industry see opportunity: green jobs, circular economy, nature-based infrastructure.

• Conservation and environmental-professional groups (e.g. the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP)) have welcomed the clarity and ambition, calling the EIP “fundamental” to sustainable growth and economic wellbeing.

Where critics, conservation bodies and many NGOs remain cautious or underwhelmed:

• Some environmental organisations, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, are already expressing "under-whelmed" disappointment, arguing that while the plan contains many good intentions, some commitments remain vague, funding insufficiently detailed, and accountability unclear, whilst Friends of the Earth conclude it "falls short" on reversing nature loss.

• The lack of a comprehensive, dedicated chemicals & pollution strategy was flagged by watchdogs as a missed opportunity, particularly given rising concerns about “forever chemicals,” (PFAs) legacy pollution, and agricultural runoff.

• Some worry the plan doesn’t sufficiently protect against conflicting priorities, for example: new housing, infrastructure or development projects may still be prioritised over nature conservation unless enforcement and planning reforms are robust.

• The scale of investment needed to deliver all goals, from habitat restoration to urban air quality to waste reduction, is enormous. Without dedicated, ring-fenced funding, there is scepticism that the plan’s ambitions will translate into real-world delivery.

  
  

What It Means for the Next 5 Years: Opportunity, risk, and what to watch

The 2025 EIP represents the UK’s most coherent and wide-ranging environmental strategy in years. If implemented in full, and with genuine political will, it could have multiple transformative effects:

• Reverse habitat and species decline

• Clean up the water and air that communities rely on

• Embed nature as vital infrastructure - supporting housing, flood resilience, health, and sustainable development

• Drive job creation and a shift toward a circular, green economy

• Build a planning, land-use and environmental framework capable of managing competing demands (housing, energy, biodiversity, food, growth)

But success is not guaranteed. With 2030 just five years away, the real test is delivery: funding, enforcement, transparency, enforcement of pollution and planning rules, and genuine cross-government coordination.

So, What needs to happen now:

• Clear oversight and annual progress reporting (the plan publishes a monitoring framework) so the public, and watchdogs, can hold government accountable.

• Rolling out Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes at scale, with landowners, farmers, communities and industry all aligned.

• Tackling tough trade-offs: where new housing, energy infrastructure or development is needed, ensuring nature protection, climate resilience and community health remain non-negotiable.

• Investing in enforcement, pollution controls, waste management, chemicals regulation, not just laudable targets on paper.

  
  

Conclusion: The new EIP is Ambitious but its Value Depends on Delivery

The revised Environmental Improvement Plan marks a significant shift in ambition and clarity. It signals that the government recognises nature, public health, sustainability and climate resilience as central to future growth, not peripheral.

For environmentalists, operators, local authorities, and communities, the EIP could offer a framework to align climate, nature and economic goals, bridging long-standing divides between development and conservation.

But as many conservation groups warn, ambition alone is not enough. The coming months and years will be the real test: can the government turn pledges into performance? Can it match words with funding, legislation, and enforcement?

What can't go without saying is the huge conflict that exists between the government's 'build, baby, build' slogan that we have been hugely critical about with regards to proposals to weakening protection for our National Parks and watering down requirements of Biodiversity Net Gain.

Whilst the EIP could become a turning point for nature, health and climate in England it could be completely undermined by the government desperately trying to achieve, quite frankly, unachievable housing goals. If they can navigate a route to circumnavigate this huge conflict, then maybe, just maybe England's environment has a fighting chance.

If not, it risks becoming another well-intentioned but hollow plan on a back shelf that is undermined by competing policy targets. Our overriding feeling is that nature is going to come off second best to housing and infrastructure, it is a trade off, which under this current government, nature is not going to win.