Wood-burning stoves could face partial ban in Labour’s updated environment plan | Environment
Wood-burning stoves are likely to face tougher restrictions in England under new pollution targets set out under an updated environmental plan published by ministers on Monday.
Speaking to the Guardian ahead of the publication of the updated Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said it would boost nature’s recovery in a number of areas, replacing an EIP under the last government which she said was “not credible”.
Reynolds said efforts to restore nature would now take place “at a strategic level” rather than a previously piecemeal approach, arguing that this meant government efforts to build housing and infrastructure could still be accompanied by a net gain in habitats.
One element of the new EIP will see targets for concentrations of PM2.5 polluting particles tightened to match current EU targets, which was not part of the previous plan, published in 2023 under the Conservatives.
Sources in Reynolds’ department say this will involve consultation on possible measures to reduce PM2.5 pollution, including those from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces.
This could involve strengthening pollution limits in smoke control zones, which already limit the fuels that can be burned: for example, stipulating that wood can only be burned in approved types of stoves or burners, not in fireplaces.
This could mean an effective ban on older appliances and that in some areas it would no longer be possible to use a wood stove at all.
The current annual limit for PM2.5 is 25 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter), with the aim of reaching 10ug/m3 by 2040. EU standards are stricter, with a new directive adopted last year requiring member states to reach 10 ug/m3 by 2030.
The World Health Organization recommends an annual limit of 5 ug/m3. It is understood that the EIP will align UK standards with those of the EU, with the aim of ultimately meeting WHO targets.
Exposure to PM2.5, which burrows deep into the lungs, is linked to many health problems, including asthma, lung disease, heart disease, cancer and stroke. Domestic combustion represented 20% of PM2.5 emissions in 2023 and was found to be more polluting than traffic.
Elsewhere in the EIP, Reynolds will make clear that £500 million of existing departmental money must be allocated to landscape restoration projects, larger-scale attempts to restore landscapes and ecosystems, often in collaboration with farmers and other landowners.
This will include a specific target to restore or create 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres) of wildlife-rich habitats by 2030.
The PIE is required by the Environment Act, with the aim of implementing a broader commitment to improving the environment within a generation.
For the first time, under the new EIP, the government will publish detailed implementation plans for the Environment Act’s objectives, which will set out how actions will contribute to its objectives and help measure progress.
Such measures, Reynolds argued, should ease fears about the depletion of nature due to housing construction and other projects, after fears were raised that the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill could roll back protections and lead to the loss of green space.
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“What we’re talking about is restoring nature, not house by house, but on a more strategic level. We can be pro-development, pro-homeownership and pro-nature at the same time,” she said.
“The last EIP, under the previous Conservative administration, was not credible. I am confident that our EIP is credible, because it incorporates these delivery plans. You can’t just set targets. You have to explain how you are going to achieve those targets. And that’s exactly what we did.”
The new IEP is also expected to include a commitment from the previous plan that every household would be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or waterway.
Other measures to be announced Monday include a new “forever chemicals” plan, aimed at reducing the amount of PFAS in the environment, and a crackdown on illegal waste dumping.
Ruth Chambers, of the Green Alliance think tank, said the new EIP was “an important step and opportunity to harness the government’s collective influence to improve nature”.
She said: “This must now be quickly converted into the sustained action needed to restore nature, clean up our rivers and air, create a circular economy and help people reconnect with the natural world. »
