Campaigners have blasted the Government for failing to meet the vast majority of its own targets to protect the environment.
A damning report published by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) reveals the Government is on track to miss all but four of its 40 environmental targets – several of which are legally binding under the Environmental Act 2021.
The watchdog criticises the "persistent lack of progress" in tackling the UK's vulnerability to the climate crisis as well as the snail's pace of efforts to slash harmful emissions. The Government is also "largely off track" with its goal to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2030, manage amounts of toxic chemicals and pesticides, and improve water quality.
The OEP also warned that taking legal action would be kept under “active consideration” if ministers continued to miss environmental targets. It comes after Rishi Sunak faced criticism for watering down key green policies last year, by delaying a ban on petrol and diesel cars, along with plans to phase out gas boilers.
Speaking to the Mirror, Friends of the Earth nature campaigner Paul de Zylva slammed ministers for having "wasted a decade claiming to be the 'greenest Government ever' while letting UK wildlife go to the wall and our rivers turn into open sewers".
Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace UK, accused Rishi Sunak of being "all mouth and no trousers" when it comes to protecting nature. He said the Tory Government had "completely failed to take the bold and urgent action required to leave the environment in a better state for future generations".
"With an election just around the corner, the Prime Minister will need to pull out all the stops if he's to convince voters that nature is truly a priority for his government, but he's rapidly running out of time," Parr added.
Co-leader of the Green Party Carla Denyer called the findings "a truly damning report of government inaction and its dereliction of duty" and urged the nation to "chart a new course away from environmental neglect and toward a sustainable future for people and the planet".
OEP chair Dame Glenys Stacey warned: "Deeply, deeply concerning adverse environmental trends continue. With the depleted state of our natural environment and the unprecedented pace of climate change, it does seem to many that we are at a crossroads".
"It is not easy for us as a nation to choose the right path, the right trajectory and to travel together at the pace needed, but we simply must," she added.
Former Liberal Democrat leader and environment spokesperson Tim Farron said: "This dismal display from the Government shows yet again that the Conservatives cannot be trusted with our environment. From sewage in our rivers and pollution in our air, to the handing out of new oil and gas licences, it seems like the Conservative Party's attitude to 'green crap', as said by the Foreign Secretary, is alive and well."
Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: "Since 2010, the Government has created or restored habitat the size of Dorset, and in the last six months alone, we have implemented a ban on single-use plastics, begun the process of creating a new national park, planted nearly 5 million trees and worked with farmers to launch 34 new landscape recovery projects.
"We were always clear that our targets were ambitious, and would require significant work to achieve, but we are fully committed to creating a greener country for future generations and going further and faster to deliver for nature. We will carefully review the Office for Environmental Protection's findings and respond in due course."