Policy paper

Environmental Improvement Plan 2023

The government’s second Environmental Improvement Plan set out its plans to improve the environment and build a greener, more prosperous country. It was revised in 2025.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 31 January 2023
• Last updated: 7 February 2023 — See all updates

This was first published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

This publication was withdrawn on 11 November 2026

The 25 Year Environment Plan, published in 2018, was the first Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). It was revised in 2023 and again in 2025. 

This page has been withdrawn on GOV.UK because the 25 Year Environment Plan is not the latest version of the EIP. It remains published because it forms part of the history of the current EIP. 

See the Environmental Improvement Plan collection for the latest plan.

Applies to England

Documents

Environmental Improvement Plan 2023: Executive summary

HTML

Environmental Improvement Plan 2023

PDF, 9.44 MB, 263 pages

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Details

The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England was the first revision of the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP).

It built on that vision with a new plan setting out how we would work with landowners, communities and businesses to deliver each of our goals for improving the environment, matched with interim targets to measure progress.

• Last updated: 7 February 2023
  Show all updates

  1. 7 February 2023

     Added the executive summary in HTML format.

  2. 2 February 2023

     Updated text in the following sections: ‘Roll out Local Nature Recovery Strategies’, ‘Tackle deforestation in supply chains’, ‘Improving our use of resources’, ‘Improve regulation for burning high emission materials in the home’, 'Encourage and support agroforestry’, ‘Managing our woodlands for biodiversity, climate and sustainable forestry’, ‘Incorporate the use of green and blue spaces into the healthcare system’, and ‘Green jobs and skills’. Updated the ‘Scale up private sector funding for new woodland creation’ and the ‘Drive long-term, stable demand for woodland carbon’ sections to clarify that a call for evidence had been carried out. Made a correction in the ‘Conserve and enhance our natural heritage’ section. Updated references to the environmental principles to clarify the legal duty is to have regard to the environmental principles policy statement.

  3. 31 January 2023

     First published.