Government criticized for excluding overall water quality from environmental targets

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The government's new legally binding environmental targets have 'gaps' that need to be filled, campaigners have warned.

Environmentalists welcomed the release of Therese Coffey's 13 new goals on Friday, but expressed concern that important areas like overall water quality were left out.

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The government was supposed to release the target lists under the Environment Act earlier this fall, but delays in putting them forward left it in breach of the law.

They were finally released on Friday, with measures like a pledge to increase tree cover from 14.5 percent of land area now to 16.5 percent by 2050.

< p>Ministers also said they would reduce exposure to harmful particles in the air by 2040 and halt declines in species abundance by 2030, among other measures.

But environmentalists say the government has only done half the job due to a lack of action on protected sites and the quali overall water quality.

The goals include four specific water-related commitments: cracking down on abandoned metal mines, reducing agricultural water pollution, greening water and reducing water demand.

But Ruth Chambers of the Greener UK coalition said: "The lack of targets for things like healthy rivers and protected nature sites no sense. These are two of our most pressing issues.

"We now need the government to show how it will meet the new targets and close the gaps where there are no targets."

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said it was "good to see the government catching up on its legal obligations".

But he urged ministers to come up with the missing targets and said the current package did not match their rhetoric.

“The objectives of the Environment Act are more than political aspirations. They are intended to provide legal certainty, clarity for business and a common purpose for the whole of government,” he said.

"So a set without targets for protected sites and overall water quality is a job half done. Ministers are now in Montreal promising to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. Publishing targets at home without committing to improving the condition of our most important wildlife sites is a world away from this rhetoric.

"In January, Defra is legally required to examine whether the targets would be...