Emma Reynolds has become the tenth UK environment secretary in a decade, joining the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) at a critical time for environmental protection. She won’t be short of advice as her officials navigate a lengthy submissions queue and journalists speculate on the reason for her appointment and her priorities.
Like most new secretaries of state, she will want to be presented with evidence, insight and options before finalising her choices. This is sensible but, in some areas, the policy runes are already written, and time is of the essence.
Sharper focus on delivery is vital
On nature for example, there is incontrovertible evidence of the UK’s nature depletion and the impact this is having on people’s health and the economy, repeated independent indictments of slow or ineffective progress and clear steers on where action is needed.
Her predecessor Steve Reed launched a rapid review of the government’s environmental improvement plan in July 2024. The new plan is much anticipated and publishing it must be one of the first things on Emma Reynolds’ to do list. But this must be more than a mere tick box exercise. The previous government’s plan was condemned for a lack of detail on how environmental improvements would be delivered. The new plan must be sharply focused on delivery and avoid the temptation to endlessly signpost forthcoming strategies and plans.
A healthy environment and healthy economy go hand in hand
Given the government’s focus on economic growth and Emma Reynolds’ previous role in the Treasury, she is likely to take a keen interest in the contributions that her new department can make to the government’s growth plans. A healthy natural world underpins the economy and by spending Defra’s budget well she can restore nature, whilst also reducing flood risk, boosting farmers’ incomes and saving NHS budgets by closing health inequalities.
The UK will host an important biodiversity summit in 2026. This will result in a highly anticipated report on the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contribution to people. It will be a major opportunity for her to emphasise the interdependency of nature and the economy.
She should avoid divisive ‘nature blocking’ rhetoric and continue to advance the ‘win-win’ thesis devised by Steve Reed and Angela Rayner for nature and housebuilding and promote environmental principles across government, aided by the findings of a soon to be published Defra review of their implementation.
The new secretary of state must be a strong voice for nature in government and reflect the popularity of the government’s environmental goals. She’s in charge of a department that can give people the fundamentals of the ‘good life’ they want. They want to breathe clean air, drink and swim in clean water, eat healthy and affordable food, experience the joys of nature and avoid toxic chemicals. They do not want to live in a degraded and dangerous environment.
Defra should continue its ambitious and popular plans for the circular economy, kicked off by Steve Reed when he entered office. The forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy is one of the best opportunities Defra has to promote growth, economic resilience and productivity. As our work with PwC has shown, even moderate shifts to towards greater resource efficiency in four sectors (construction, packaging, electronics and textiles) could increase UK GDP growth by up to one per cent and boost labour productivity by 0.4 per cent. This impact is similar to many of the emerging technologies government is backing. If all that weren’t reason enough to accelerate this agenda, voters of all stripes love it, with 87 per cent surveyed agreeing the UK should shift towards a society that uses material resources more efficiently. Putting this signal right should be top of the list.
Unfinished business can be turned into quick wins
The new secretary of state should continue to seize the potential for quick(er) wins. In her first week, she oversaw important announcements on safeguarding the planet’s oceans and protecting peat bogs from burning, as well as sustaining important policy direction on banning the use of bee killing pesticides.
More unfinished business is waiting in the department’s wings that should be progressed without further delay. The long awaited Land Use Framework should be published by the end of the year to guide decisions about how land is used for food production, nature restoration and clean energy projects. A new chair must be appointed to the Office for Environmental Protection and Defra should swiftly legislate to stop the digging up of horticultural peat for garden compost and to rid supermarket shelves of products of damaging deforestation.
It’s been suggested that Emma Reynolds wants to take a “tough stance” on regulators. The findings of the review, led by Defra’s non-executive director Heather Hancock, of how the department’s arm’s length bodies could work together more effectively will offer initial guidance.
She already has a major regulatory reorganisation to deliver: to implement Sir Jon Cunliffe’s recommendation for a new water regulator, which the government has accepted in principle, with a white paper promised by the end of this year on water reform.
Any further rearrangement of regulators at this point would be counterproductive and lead to further delays in meeting the government’s environmental goals, which are already seriously off track.
Departmental silos should be avoided
Collaboration between the UK’s environment ministers and with stakeholders was boosted by the reset in relationships following the 2024 general election and was championed by Steve Reed. The secretary of state must continue to work with her counterparts to find solutions that drive ambition across the UK.
Implementing the new Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU, which deals with trade in animals, plant and food products, will be a significant milestone, with the clock already ticking towards the 2027 deadline. The renewed spirit of co-operation with the EU should allow for discussions on other areas where greater alignment across the UK would benefit the environment and the economy, in particular chemicals regulation.
There will soon be a new permanent secretary to support and guide her decisions. Defra’s breadth means it has many policy fiefdoms – they don’t always complement each other in the way they should, for example on the interaction of farming and nature goals. To move things forward positively, she must harness the political experience of new farming minister Angela Eagle, and her existing ministers, to drive ambitious delivery for nature, climate and people.
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