The vision across parts of the environment

Defra has provided a large number of supplementary strategies for individual parts of the environment which sometimes elaborate government’s vision further. An illustrative selection is provided in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Vision statement areas across environmental areas
Policy area	Vision Statement	Publications
Air	Dealing with all sources of air pollution, making our air healthier to breathe, protecting nature and boosting the economy.	Clean Air Strategy (2019)²⁶
Water	Sustainable delivery of secure water supplies, an improved and protected water environment, fair, affordable and cost-reflective water charges, reduced water sector greenhouse gas emissions and more sustainable and effective management of surface water. Clean and plentiful water – achieve clean and plentiful water by improving at least three quarters of our waters to be close to their natural state as soon as is practicable. A nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100 To enhance nature and the natural water assets that are the foundation of everyone’s wealth, health and wellbeing, and the things people value, including culture and wildlife.	Future Water: The government’s water strategy for England (2011)²⁷ The 25 Year Environment Plan (2018)²⁸ The Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy (2020)²⁹ Summary of the draft River Basin Management Plans (2021)³⁰
Land	We want a more dynamic, more self-reliant agriculture industry as we continue to compete internationally, supplying products of the highest standards to the domestic market and increasing exports. But, alongside this, we want a reformed agricultural and land management policy to deliver a better and richer environment in England. By 2028, we want to see: a renewed agricultural sector, producing healthy food for consumption at home and abroad, where farms can be profitable and economically sustainable without subsidy farming and the countryside contributing significantly to environmental goals including addressing climate change Planting and establishing the right tree in the right place will deliver benefits for people, for wildlife and the economy. We want our peatland to meet the needs of wildlife, people and the planet. All uses of peatland should keep the peat wet and in the ground.	Health and Harmony: The future for food, farming and the environment in a green Brexit (2018)³¹ Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024: Policy paper³² The England Trees Action Plan 2021-2024³³ England Peat Action Plan³⁴
Marine	Clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. Within one generation we want to have made a real difference.	Safeguarding Our Seas (2002)³⁵ UK Marine Policy Statement (2011)³⁶ Marine Strategy Part One (2019) & Two (2021) ^37,³⁸
Waste	Minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy in England.	Waste and Resources Strategy (2019)³⁹
Biodiversity	To halt overall biodiversity loss, support healthy well-functioning ecosystems and establish coherent ecological networks, with more and better places for nature for the benefit of wildlife and people.	Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services (2011)⁴⁰

We see the greater detail provided in these publications. Together they provide useful information on the strategic aims for different parts of the environment. This is particularly powerful when restated over time, demonstrating not only the evolution of policy and evidence, but a consistent vision – for example as is the case for marine policy.

However, vision statements can be difficult to find amongst government strategies and their associated policy documents, which accumulate over time, and often do not contain a dedicated vision section. We found that water, land and biodiversity, in particular, did not appear to have an accessible, current vision, or included inconsistent visions in successive policy documents.

For the visions that are accessible, none are fully consistent with the overarching 25 YEP vision. Their terminology is inconsistent, and only air, water and marine reflect the ambition to recover the environment – although we note they are not bounded to attain this “within a generation”, and in marine the vision is only to “have made a real difference” within a generation.

Neither do they reflect the 25 YEP commitment to prioritise the environment first;

“We will use this opportunity to strengthen and enhance the protections our countryside, rivers, coastline and wildlife habitats enjoy, and develop new methods of agricultural and fisheries support which put the environment first”⁴¹.

Visions for water, land and marine contain multiple economic, social and environmental goals, but do not distinguish priorities or acknowledge the trade-offs between them.

With the prospect of a new EIP in 2023, and subsidiary strategies for biodiversity, water and agri-environment schemes, there is an ideal opportunity for government to provide a sharp and consistent vision across environmental areas.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Clean Air Strategy, (2019), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-air-strategy-2019 [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Future water: The government’s water strategy for England, (2011), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-water-the-government-s-water-strategy-for-england [Accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment, (2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan [accessed February 2022]
Environment Agency (EA), National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England, (2020), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-strategy-for-england--2 [Accessed February 2022]
Environment Agency (EA), Summary of the draft river basin management plans (2021), [accessed February 2022] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-the-draft-river-basin-management-plans
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), The future for food, farming and the environment, (2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-for-food-farming-and-the-environment [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024, (2020), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-transition-plan-2021-to-2024 [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), England Trees Action Plan 2021 to 2024, (2021), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-trees-action-plan-2021-to-2024 [Accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), England Peat Action Plan, (2021), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-peat-action-plan [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Safeguarding our Seas, (2002), https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130822084033/http:/www.defra.gov.uk/environment/marine/documents/marine_stewardship.pdf [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), UK Marine Policy Statement, (2011), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-marine-policy-statement [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Marine strategy part one: UK updated assessment and Good Environmental Status, (2019), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-one-uk-updated-assessment-and-good-environmental-status [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Marine strategy part two: UK marine monitoring programmes, (2014), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-two-uk-marine-monitoring-programmes [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Resource and waste strategy for England, (2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england [accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services, (2011), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/biodiversity-2020-a-strategy-for-england-s-wildlife-and-ecosystem-services [Accessed February 2022]
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment, (2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan, pg. 4 [Accessed February 2022]