Defra-commissioned review lists ways to balance the environment and the economy 

A landmark review by economist Dan Corry has been published, analysing the ways the UK can use environmental regulation to protect the environment without inhibiting the economy. Innovation, development, and growth are equally important, and the review focuses on the fact that growth in the environment and the economy should not be in direct conflict. 

The primary aim of the review is to recommend ways that the UK’s regulatory system can support both nature recovery and economic growth – goals that Corry feels our current system is not doing enough currently to support. 

Five key themes emerged from the research and create the 29 recommendations: 

• Focus on outcomes, scale and proportionality, with constrained discretion 

• Untangle and tidy ‘green tape’ to ensure process-light and adaptive regulation 

• Deploy a fair and consistent ‘thin green line’ on regulatory compliance, with trusted partners earning autonomy 

• Unlock the flow of private sector green finance to support nature restoration whilst better targeting public sector finance 

• Shift regulators to be more digital, more real-time and more innovative with partners 

Major, overarching change is avoided in favour of shorter term, actionable approaches and changes that, when implemented together, would encourage positive behaviours, better outcomes, and a mutually beneficial way to bolster nature improvement and the UK’s economy. 

Three categories are identified, where the recommendations can be applied to achieve a positive outcome: growth, nature, and customers and stakeholders. 

Five actions to help growth 

• Restate and clarify government’s priorities and publish new Strategic Policy Statements for all regulators, mandating the use of constrained discretion to further deliver of these priorities. 

• Facilitate cultural change in environmental regulation by trailing regulatory sandboxes, measuring how scenarios without regulations fare. 

• Begin a rolling programme of reform for specific, identified regulations, focusing on the ones that can be achieved the soonest. 

• Create a Defra Infrastructure Board to accelerate the delivery of the most important projects across the UK. 

• Accelerate investment through improved coherence through a Government Nature Market Accelerator 

Five actions to help nature 

• Publish a new, updated set out outcomes for regulators which have clear accountability frameworks and measurable outcomes linked to the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023. 

• Using memorandums of understandings, let trusted, relevant environmental and conservation partners have greater autonomy to achieve aligned goals. 

• Increase risk-based monitoring and make the information more publicly accessible. 

• Speed up the time it takes for penalties to be issued and introduce tougher, meaningful penalties for deliberate or persistent non-compliances, and make minor offenses quickly solved through quickly issued fines. 

• Remove barriers to using Natured-Based solutions to flooding and pollution in a short timeframe. 

Five actions to help customers and stakeholders 

• Establish clear, single leads for each major environment project to improve coherence. 

• Reform Farming rules for Water to create a circular economy and boost farming productivity 

• Review and reform the permitting system and use the District Licensing approaches more 

• Improve access to advice and make guidance simple and accessible to help compliance 

• Invest in systems to increase transparency which help customers track their progress in real-time 

Next steps 

The purpose of the review is to call upon government to reposition and repurpose environmental regulation to eliminate the current key inhibiting factors. As with much regulation, immediate action to begin work and long-term commitment is needed, and by using the 29 recommendations as a foundation, the review aims to improve both the economic and environmental landscape of the UK. 

Ease of compliance, increased efficiency, and regulations that do not contradict one another are three of the largest potential benefits these recommendations could create if implemented well and in a timely manner. 

With the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 rapid review due to release this year following completion, we await further action from government to benefit the UK’s environmental and economic goals, helping us to meet our targets and set an example for the world.