Green MP demands tougher powers for environmental watchdog after damning OEP report.
13th of January 2026
Green MP demands tougher powers for environmental watchdog after damning OEP report.
Adrian Ramsay, MP for Waveney Valley and DEFRA lead for the Green MPs, said:
"Today’s Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) report lays bare the scale of the crisis and is a deeply damning indictment of the environmental record of successive governments. The report shows that the majority of the ten environmental targets set out in the Environment Act 2021 have little to no chance of being met by 2030.
"Rather than stepping up action, the Government is actively advancing policies that will further damage it, leaving little realistic chance of stopping the decline of iconic British species such as the hedgehog and red squirrel by 2030. The Government must recognise that halting and reversing the decline of nature is central to our wellbeing and to food security as well as a healthy environment.
"If the Government is serious about its climate and biodiversity commitments, it must give the OEP real teeth, including the power to sanction and fine Government departments and local authorities that fail to meet legally binding targets. This would not be an overreach. It would simply restore the level of environmental accountability that existed before Brexit. Without these powers, the OEP risks becoming a watchdog that can bark but cannot bite, while environmental targets remain unmet and nature continues to decline."
