Committee publication · Correspondence · 9 December 2025

Correspondence from Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature, Defra, regarding the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, dated 1 December 2025

From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

Inquiry: Work of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies

Summary

Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature at Defra, informs Parliament that the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 has been laid and published. The EIP sets the government's strategy for improving the natural environment to 2043 and includes revised interim targets under the Environment Act 2021. The letter completes the statutory review of the previous plan and invites committee scrutiny.

Key findings

  • Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 has been laid in Parliament and published on GOV.UK
  • The plan covers environmental improvement and public enjoyment of natural environment up to 2043
  • Includes revised interim targets for statutory Environment Act 2021 targets
  • Completes statutory review of EIP23 (previous Environmental Improvement Plan)
  • Minister acknowledges constructive challenge from the committee since July 2024

Tone

Procedural

Topics

environmental-policynatural-environmentstatutory-targetsparliamentary-scrutiny

Key actors

Mary Creagh CBE MP, Alistair Carmichael, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Notable line

The EIP is the government's plan for improving the natural environment and enjoyment of it up to

Key Quotes

The EIP is the government's plan for improving the natural environment and enjoyment of it up to 2043. It includes revised interim targets for the statutory Environment Act 2021 targets.
Mary Creagh CBE MP · describing the scope and content of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025
I am grateful for the constructive challenge provided by your committee since July
Mary Creagh CBE MP · acknowledging the committee's previous engagement on the plan
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗