BRITAIN is at risk of missing its legally binding target to protect biodiversity and nature, a new report has warned.

In December 2020, Britain pledged to protect and conserve at least 30 per cent of the country’s land and sea by 2030 as part of an international target agreed at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (Cop15) in Montreal.

However, the government risks missing the target unless it acts urgently to halt and reverse the unprecedented environmental crisis in Britain, according to a report released by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) today.

Britain ranks among the bottom 10 per cent of countries globally for biodiversity, with only 53 per cent of its biodiversity remaining and 41 per cent of its species seeing significant population declines since 1970.

Six years to go to the target, less than 3 per cent of England’s land and 8 per cent of its seas are effectively protected, the paper adds.

The think tank put forward a plan for the new Labour government, involving measures like tackling sewage polluters by developing legally binding targets and strengthening powers for the Environment Agency to enforce sanctions.