2021: Are air, water, and nature any better off?

2021 has been a big year for air, with the release of the IAQM’s leading Indoor Air Guidance. Meanwhile, the focus of the debate around air quality in the Environment Act has been on PM2.5 and how to create a framework which properly addresses this dangerous set of particulates. One target on PM2.5 is explicitly required, and a second is expected, with all signs pointing to a dual approach which will consider population exposure and set a limit value for ambient air. 

While clear that PM2.5 is being taking seriously as an issue which must be addressed, there remains a question about what limit values will be used, and whether or not they will align with air quality guidelines set by the World Health Organisation. If the Government intends to make real progress towards abating the harms of PM2.5, a 10 microgram per cubic metre target will be needed.

The pressing question of indoor air will also be crucial in 2022. Regardless of the future of COVID-19 and the way the pandemic affects our lives, many people spend more time indoors than outdoors. While the Environment Act makes some progress on domestic burning, the complexity of indoor air requires a more robust response. As the IAQM leads the way on indoor air pollution, 2022 will provide a real opportunity to consider the best approach to managing air in our vital indoor environments.

With watercourses and water resources in stark focus in the latter half of 2021 due to debates on sewage water pollution, there has been a reinvigorated drive to address these crucial natural systems in 2022. The Environment Act’s long-term targets are expected to address both water quality and the current state of water abstraction, with the latter also being subject to ongoing consultation by DEFRA.

Conversations at COP26 have highlighted the risk of water stress in the years to come, and as systemic risk vulnerabilities become an increasingly important part of the climate conversation, the resilience of water systems will be of paramount importance. Even as positive progress is made towards recognising water stressors, much more needs to be done to protect water and the interconnected social and natural systems which rely on it.

The environmental principles also pose a special risk to water systems, with an overall approach about individual instances of harm caused by government policies, rather than the systems thinking approach which the IES recommends. That may be particularly problematic for water, where both water quality and water security are often jeopardised by incremental pressures across a more complex range of policy areas.

2022 will be a big year for nature: while COP15 negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity technically began in October, the substance of the issue has not yet been addressed. All signs point to action: nature played a bigger role at the COP26 climate summit than ever before, with its first “Nature Day” and a significant recognition of the interlinking importance of the two agendas. COP15 will provide a major opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime framework for safeguarding the planet’s biodiversity and fighting the ecological emergency.

Closer to home, the Environment Act (and its sister legislation the Agriculture Act) have begun some of the work needed to support nature. Likewise, the devolved nations of the United Kingdom are also looking at how to restore and enhance nature. As with the climate agenda, the challenge for nature in 2022 will be one of implementation. As Local Nature Recovery Networks and Strategies come to the fore, there will be myriad opportunities and risks for the natural world. 

Thus far, the task appears to be a challenging one. The Government’s Biodiversity Net Gain Metric 3.0 has been met with criticism, both for its content and for its implementation. The same local scales will be crucial to delivering on nature recovery, despite diminished local capacity on ecological issues in recent years. With Local Nature Recovery Networks, Biodiversity Net Gain, long-term targets on species and biodiversity, potential planning changes, and imminent changes to the Habitat Regulations, a massive burden falls on delivery. 2022 will tell us whether that delivery will produce results or lead to more trouble for nature in the days to come.

Similarly, it will be a big year for soil resources. With the newly-promised Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE), and with Environmental Land Management Schemes and the Sustainable Farming Incentive coming down the pipeline, the future of soils will also be in the balance in 2022. Again, the burden falls on delivery, and the IES is doing its part to inform the public to support scrutiny where it matters.

In many ways, it has been a mixed year for policy addressing resources and waste. Despite the crucial importance of the circular economy to delivering changes to our systems of consumption and production, resources did not have their own day on the agenda of COP26. The IES used the summit’s ‘Rest Day’ to highlight circularity and resource efficiency, but COP26 definitely missed the opportunity to engage global parties in these vital conversations.

In the UK, legislation has provided some of the tools needed to address resources and waste. The expected long-term targets under the Environment Act will address resource productivity and waste minimisation, which are targets with lots of potential as long as they are measured in the right ways. Meanwhile, with new powers to address single-use items and recent consultations on Extended Producer Responsibility and Deposit Return Schemes, the design of products will be brought to the forefront in 2022, with lots of scope for innovative businesses to make a profit by driving forwards sustainability.

As with the other changes brought about by the Environment Act, the question will be exactly how the policies are implemented in practice, and whether or not they are able to deliver on the change that they promise.