Today (4 June 2025), The Wildlife Trusts are warning that UK Government risk an unparalleled policy hammer blow on the countryside.
The last ten days have seen the UK Government undermine their promises for nature at every turn, with Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill threatening to weaken environmental protections, and a reversal in ambitions for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) damaging industry confidence in nature markets and further digging the grave for wildlife.
Next week the Government will set out its Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), an opportunity to embed nature into the course of public spending for the year ahead and get wildlife restoration and climate change action back on track. Yet reports suggest that the CSR is set to make a bad situation much worse, with huge cuts to sustainable farming support on the cards.
Today (4 June 2025), The Wildlife Trusts are warning that this risks an unparalleled policy hammer blow on the countryside. As set out in this new briefing, any cut to the farming budget would add to the growing pile of broken promises from the UK Government on nature.
The farming budget is the largest budget supporting nature recovery. With more than 70% of the UK farmed, evidence has proved that without adequate funding to support sustainable farming schemes, the UK Government’s legally binding target to halt the decline of nature by 2030 will be missed. Efforts to curb agricultural emissions and build climate resilience will also be severely dented, leaving farmers and society more exposed to the impacts of flooding and drought. Any cut to the farming budget therefore imperils both the future of farming and environmental recovery, The Wildlife Trusts warn.
Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts, says: ‘‘A year ago, Labour politicians promised to restore nature and safeguard the countryside. Now in office, they are doing the opposite, weakening environmental protections and preparing to cut the sustainable farming schemes needed to secure a thriving future for farmers and rural communities. If cuts are implemented as reported, these broken promises will put nature recovery targets out of reach, halt the farming transition and leave farmers high and dry.”
Posted On: 04/06/2025
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