The research provides the OEP with enhanced capability to monitor the UK Government’s reported annual expenditure on actions to protect and enhance the natural environment, and to assess whether this spending aligns with the scale of investment required in England’s Environmental Improvement Plan.
The project focused specifically on contributions to the EA21 biodiversity targets, with particular attention to two key targets: halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, and increasing species abundance by 2042 to levels higher than in 2022 and at least 10% greater than in 2030.
To achieve this, the supplier developed a catalogue of investment requirements necessary to meet the biodiversity targets and related commitments. The supplier also created a tracker that enables the OEP to record annual investment announcements and benchmark them against both annual and cumulative investment needs. This allows the OEP to assess and comment on the adequacy, distribution, and effectiveness of Government spending—both year on year and in aggregate—against the outcomes required.
Disclaimer
Eftec were commissioned by the Office for Environmental Protection to develop a catalogue and tracker of investment requirements necessary to meet the biodiversity targets and related commitments. The views provided in this report are those of Eftec and do not represent the opinion or position of the OEP. Some of the analysis in this report was used to inform the OEP’s report Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2024/2025.