Defra's first three years - some of our achievements
See also:
- Defra celebrates its third anniversary - news story and comment by Ministers
Sustainable development - from concept to reality
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
At the Summit in September 2002 in Johannesburg, the UK negotiating team, led by Secretary of State Margaret Beckett, played a key role in achieving major progress. In Johannesburg, the countries of the world signed up to targets and action plans on sanitation, fish stocks, biodiversity, chemicals and natural resources including to halve the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015 and to significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010, and a call for an urgent and substantial increase in the share of renewable energy worldwide.
Climate change and energy
Kyoto Protocol
Defra made a major contribution to the successful completion of international climate change negotiations in 2001, breathing legal life into the Kyoto Protocol and paving the way for its ratification in May 2002. The Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett, also led the UK delegation at the 8th conference of the parties (COP8) in Delhi in October 2002. The technical progress made at Delhi will help to make the Kyoto Protocol a reality.
UK Emissions Trading Scheme
In April 2002 Defra launched the world's first economy wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. Participating companies have pledged to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by almost four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. During the first two years of the Scheme, participating companies reduced their emissions by 9.8 million tonnes, more than twice the amount originally expected for the full five years of the Scheme. During the same period, over 2000 transfers of allowances took place, involving over 12.5 million tonnes.
EU emissions trading scheme
On 9 December 2002, the European Union reached political agreement on an EU emissions trading scheme. It is estimated that the EU scheme will cover 40-45% of the EU's carbon dioxide emissions and form a key part of the European Climate Change Programme. Member States governments are currently in the process of submitting their national allocation plans to the EU Commission. These plans detail the allocations broken down by sector and installation. The UK submitted its plan at the end of April.
Energy White Paper
The Energy White Paper, Our Energy Future - Creating a Low Carbon Economy was published jointly by Defra, DTI and DfT in February 2003. In accepting the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's recommendation of a 60% cut in the UK's carbon emissions by 2050, the Government has signalled that the environment, and in particular climate change, is now at the heart of energy policy. The White Paper makes clear the Government's strong preference for achieving the necessary cuts in emissions through energy efficiency and renewables. Margaret Beckett co-chairs a new Ministerial Committee to ensure that the White Paper's commitments are delivered.
Energy Efficiency
Energy Efficiency - The Government's Plan for Action published in April 2004 sets out how the government aims to cut carbon emissions by an extra 12 million tonnes through energy efficiency within the next six years. Key measures include:
- A new aim to save 4.2 million tonnes of carbon from households by 2010
- Double the level of Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) activity from 2005 to 2011, subject to review in 2007. This is expected to lead to investment of more than £2billion, saving customers £4billion from their bills to 2020 (subject to public consultation this summer)
- New fiscal measures announced in Budget 2004, including a tax allowance to encourage domestic landlords to invest in their properties
- New energy services pilots, through which energy suppliers can offer innovative energy efficiency packages to customers
- Committed leadership by government, including a new commitment by central government to use only the best energy performance buildings
- More emphasis on communicating with people about climate change
Raising awareness more widely of the links between climate change, energy policy and the behaviour of every individual, business and public sector body is vital. We continue to do this with the help of the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust, and are considering new ways to communicate better about climate change at every level.
Flood response
The Government's programme of spending on flood defence works has increased in all three Spending Reviews. In cash terms, following the autumn 2000 floods, between 2000-01 and 2005-06, total annual expenditure is expected to increase from £328.5m to £564.2m an increase of 236m.
Defra has provided additional funding, primarily to the Environment Agency (EA), for emergency repairs, flood warning improvements, the acceleration of important river flood defences and other flood response measures.
Sustainable Consumption and Production
Waste and recycling
The rate of household waste recycled reached 14.5% in 2002-03. 66% of households are now served by a kerbside recycling scheme. And in the last year alone, the amount of recycled household waste collected through kerbside schemes rose by 29%. For the first time in four years in 2003-03 there was a fall in the amount of waste being sent to landfill by local authorities. The tonnage of packaging waste going to landfill has decreased by a third since 1998.
The Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003 aims to enable the UK to face two of the world's biggest environmental challenges - climate change and the need to move towards a more sustainable management of our waste. It takes an innovative approach using economic instruments which should deliver more economically optimal solutions, rather than the old tools of command and control.
The Act also enables a landfill allowance system to be set up to limit the amount of biodegradable municipal waste local authorities may send to landfill and provides for the allocation of landfill allowances to waste disposal authorities. These allowances can be traded to allow local authorities to meet the Landfill Directive targets in the most cost effective way and flexible way. The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme will be launched in England on 1 April 2005.
Natural Resource Protection
Biodiversity
We have launched the England Biodiversity Strategy, Working with the Grain of Nature. This includes policy initiatives in agriculture, water, woodland, marine, coastal and urban areas. It also identifies cross-cutting themes of local and regional action, economics, engagement with business and promoting public understanding. Together, this provides a wide-ranging package of measures to conserve and enhance wildlife. After publishing the strategy in 2002, we published a progress report in October 2003, including the development of indicators by which we can manage success.
We have introduced increased prison sentences for wildlife crime and launched a National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit, bringing together Defra, the police and HM Customs and Excise to combat the lucrative illegal wildlife trade
We launched the award-winning Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC) map. This provides valuable and useful information - on topics such as SSSIs, National Park boundaries, scheduled monuments and woodland grant schemes - on-line at www.magic.gov.uk.
We played a leading role in the CITES conference in Santiago and as a result achieved increased protection worldwide for the Basking Shark and for Mahogany.
Air Quality
The air quality indicator shows a long-term downward trend in air pollution as a result of measures to curb emissions from industry, transport and domestic sources. Last year the average number of "poor" air quality days in urban areas was around 16 per cent lower than in 1993.
We are on track or have met most of our air quality objectives and more local, national and international action will contribute to secure further improvements.
River quality
In the UK as a whole, about 95 per cent of rivers were of "good" or "fair" chemical quality in 2002 as measured by current systems of monitoring (currently under review). There was little change in the proportion of rivers of "good" or "fair2 quality in the UK between 2001 and 2002, but this rose significantly between 1990 and 2002. An exact percentage change cannot be given because of changes in the monitoring methods and networks through the period, but in England the percentage of rivers of "good" chemical quality increased from 43 per cent in 1990 to 65 per cent in 2002.
On biological quality, in the UK as a whole, about 95 per cent of rivers were assessed as being of good or fair quality in 2002. It is not possible to give exact trends for the UK because of monitoring differences in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but in England 68 per cent were of good biological quality in 2002 compared with 60 per cent in 1990. In Wales nearly all rivers were of good or fair quality in both 1990 and 2002.
These improvements have mainly been achieved by combating point source water pollution (pollution from distinct sources such as sewerage treatment plants or factories). Much more has to be done, especially in tackling diffuse water pollution from agriculture, if we are to meet requirements of current EU Directives such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD) which set much tougher ecological standards.
Bathing beaches
Cleanest on record. In 2003, 98 per cent of UK coastal bathing beaches met mandatory EU standards, compared with 88 per cent in 1997. The tougher guideline standards were reached by 75 per cent of beaches in 2003, compared with 37 per cent in 1997.
Drinking water
Our drinking water quality is the best ever, and continues to rise – currently 99.87% of drinking water in England and Wales meets EU standards.
Sustainable Rural Communities
Rural Affairs Forum
Defra has established the Rural Affairs Forum for England to represent all aspects of rural opinion, and all the English regions, at the heart of Government. Regional Rural Affairs Forums have been established for each English region.
Modernising Rural delivery
In November 2002, Margaret Beckett appointed Lord Haskins to lead a review of the way in which Defra and its agencies and public bodies deliver rural policies. The report recommended a clearer separation between policy making and delivery including the setting up of a new Land Management Agency to be responsible for most "on the ground" delivery. Defra will continue to make policy.
Refreshed Rural Strategy
Building on the recommendations of Lord Haskins' Review of Rural Delivery, the Review of the Rural White Paper and work to improve our rural evidence base, we are developing a refreshed rural strategy. The goal is to achieve equitable policy treatment for rural areas with delivery that meets rural needs. The scope is broad because it potentially involves much of Government's domestic agenda. It is therefore crucial to set clear objectives and priorities. The strategy will establish rural policy priorities for the next 3-5yrs around four main themes:
Sustaining Economic Growth - addressing the structural economic weaknesses and accompanying poor social conditions which occur in a minority of rural areas
Social Justice - ensuring equitable treatment of rural areas, with service delivery that meets rural needs; and improving the position of the disadvantaged minority who live in otherwise affluent rural areas.
Develop the Countryside's contribution to society's wellbeing - building on current work in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and elsewhere to promote sustainable development and expand the range of people enjoying the countryside.
Modernising Rural Delivery – setting out the Government's response to Lord Haskins report
Tackling social exclusion
Defra has worked closely with the Treasury and other departments to make changes to spending programmes so that they address the needs of rural people. This is 'rural proofing' and an independent report from the Countryside Agency shows that it has made a real difference over the past three years.
Defra has agreed ambitious targets with Regional Development Agencies to reduce poverty and improve opportunity in the most disadvantaged rural areas.
New rural PSA target
Defra has, for the first time, established challenging rural Public Service Agreement targets for increased productivity and improved access to vital public services (healthcare, post 16 education and training, information, public transport and access to cash) for all rural people. The Government's performance in meeting these targets will be publicly monitored.
Countryside and rights of way
Defra has worked with the Countryside Agency to implement the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Access will be introduced region by region starting with the South East and Lower North West on 19 September 2004.
A Sustainable Food and Farming Sector (including Animal Health and Welfare)
The SFF strategy
The Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food was set up by the Prime Minister in August 2001, and its remit covered England. The Commission presented its report to Government on 29 January 2002. Building on this the Government launched its Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food: Facing the Future in England on 12 December 2002.
The strategy sets out how industry, Government and consumers can work together to secure a sustainable future for our farming and food industries, as viable industries contributing to a better environment and healthy and prosperous communities.
- help for farmers to increase competitiveness and to add value to their production by promoting benchmarking, co-operation and marketing;
- a new pilot network of demonstration farms to spread best practice;
- encouragement to farmers to preserve and enhance the environment, particularly via a new 'Entry Level' Agri-Environment Scheme we will be piloting and which, if successful, will then be rolled out across England in 2005;
- encouragement of diversification into new markets including non-food crops, for which a new body (the National Non-Food Crops Centre) was launched in November 2003 to take forward innovation in this area
- an Organic Action Plan to promote a sustainable and competitive organic farming and food sector
- a commitment by the Government to regulate in a smarter way that avoids imposing unnecessary burdens on the industry;
- measures to combat animal diseases better and improve animal health; and
- a new cross-government Food and Health Action Plan, building on the work the Government is already doing in partnership with industry and consumers to improve diet and nutrition.
CAP reform
The UK played a major negotiating role in achieving agreement among EU agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg in June 2003 on a major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The new CAP breaks the link between the production and subsidy, freeing farming to respond to the demands of the marketplace.
Defra economists have estimated that average farm incomes could rise by about 5% compared to 2003 figures as a result of the efficiencies and market freedom that will result.
Breaking the link between subsidy and production also removes an incentive for farmers to maximise production and so reduces environmental damage from intensive farming such as over-use of pesticides and fertilizers. Additionally, to receive the new de-coupled payment, farmers will have to meet certain EU environmental, food safety, plant and animal health and animal welfare standards and maintain their land in good agricultural and environmental condition. More public money will also be diverted from the decoupled payment budget to wider rural development and environmental initiatives.
The new CAP is a major move towards an agricultural policy acceptable to our WTO partners as the international community renews efforts to make progress to agree a new world trade round.
The new CAP also paves the way for the successful integration of the 10 new member states into EU and for further enlargement over coming years.
Animal health & welfare
Animal welfare
The formation of Defra brought the welfare of all kept animals (other than those in laboratories) under one Whitehall roof for the first time. This has given us the opportunity to work with a wide variety of stakeholders to bring animal welfare legislation up to date to reflect the latest science, and to ensure that the law can change in the future as the evidence base develops. We plan to publish a draft Bill for consultation this summer in order to update the myriad of outdated laws in this area – some of which date back to 1911.
We have banned fur farming. And we have been working with stakeholders to develop a new comprehensive Animal Health and Welfare Strategy, with the aim of a continuing improvement in health and welfare of kept animals and protection of the public from animal diseases.
Reduction in BSE
The UK's major BSE testing programme (known as 'active surveillance') is helping confirm our success in significantly reducing the incidence of BSE in the national herd. A major step in re-establishing the market for British beef occurred in December 2002 when the French Government lifted its ban on imports of beef from the Date Based Export Scheme.
The European Food Safety Agency has confirmed that, by the end of 2004 at the latest, the UK should be considered to be in the same risk category for BSE as most other Member States; and that we are already in this position as regards cattle born after the reinforced feed ban effective from August 1996.
National Scrapie Plan
The National Scrapie Plan is a long term initiative which enables farmers to breed resistance to scrapie (and BSE) into their flocks. The plan was launched in July 2001 and by May 2004 almost a million animals have been tested under the plan.
Eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease
In 2001 the Government succeeded in controlling the largest outbreak of FMD ever known in around 32 weeks. The whole of Great Britain was declared 'FMD-free' without vaccination' by the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE) on 22 January 2002.
Following the outbreak we set up independent inquiries to help us work out how to better guard against such an outbreak ever happening again. So far we have put in place a new Animal Health Act, ongoing contingency planning exercises and a detailed contingency plan will help to ensure that we can better contain and control any future outbreak.
Fisheries
In December 2002 we agreed a wide ranging set of reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), putting it on a more sustainable basis with a stronger regional dimension, increased stakeholder involvement and better integration of environmental concerns.
Under this revised framework we have secured overall limits on the size of EU fleets; a ban on EU subsidies for new vessels after 2004; recovery plans for depleted stocks of cod and hake, and the introduction of measures to protect vulnerable species and marine habitats (including measures to help tackle shark-finning and reduce the risks to dolphins and porpoises, and protect the Darwin Mounds coral reefs).
At the 24 May 2004 Fisheries Council we agreed a framework that will allow the industry, their partners in Europe and other stakeholders to establish Regional Advisory Councils: a step change towards a more inclusive and regionally focused CFP. We remain committed to building further on these reforms
Page published: 11 June 2004