Councils play 'critical role' in fighting climate change but lack resources, watchdog says

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a new report assessing the Government’s progress on achieving its long-term environment goals since it declared in 2011 that this would be the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state that it inherited.

Seven years after that declaration, the Government published a 25 Year Environmental Plan to achieve this ambition. The plan set 10 overarching goals covering issues such as clean air, clean and plentiful water and thriving plants and wildlife.

The NAO concluded that while there has been some progress, it is ‘not yet clear that the Government has in place what it needs to meet its long-term environmental goals.’