Experts warn Burnham’s nature levy risks ‘cash to trash’ model
Critics argue the scheme grants ministers unchecked power to set levy rates as low as £1, potentially undermining biodiversity protections and reversing decades of conservation effort.
More than 100 experts, including actor Stephen Fry, broadcaster Chris Packham, and financier Ben Goldsmith, have signed a letter urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to halt the rollout of Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs). The plans, introduced via the Planning and Infrastructure Act, allow developers to bypass specific biodiversity protections by paying into a national nature levy rather than adhering to strict environmental laws.
The signatories argue the scheme effectively permits developers to “trash” nature for as little as £1, reversing decades of protection at a time when such safeguards are deemed critical. The letter warns that the policy could undermine national security and the food supply, citing a recent report from the joint intelligence committee, which oversees MI5 and MI6, that identified global attacks on nature as a direct threat to the UK.
Ahead of a House of Lords debate on the nature restoration levy regulations 2026, a motion has been introduced to withdraw the statutory instrument. The regulations are required to make the EDP regime operational, but critics contend they are being rushed through with serious flaws remaining unexamined.
Alexa Culver, a planning lawyer at RSK Wilding, submitted evidence to the Lords highlighting that the regulations grant the secretary of state unchecked power to change payment rates without consulting Natural England or developers. Culver warned this could leave the system vulnerable to lobbying pressure, allowing ministers to set the price of environmental destruction as low as they like.
Concerns were also raised regarding the disapplication of protections from the EU habitats directive, which remains in full force across other EU member states. Culver noted this could position England as Europe’s “bargain basement,” where English developers face a fraction of the environmental costs borne by their counterparts in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland.
Ben Goldsmith condemned the government’s plan to restore 30% of land for nature by 2030 as “pathetic” and “completely insufficient.” Labour donor and green energy industrialist Dale Vince, another signatory, urged the government to make nature an economic priority and bring it to the centre of government thinking.
In response, a government spokesperson defended the EDPs, stating that the status quo for development and nature is not working. The spokesperson asserted that the plans aim to deliver better environmental outcomes than current legislation by actively restoring and improving habitats, rather than merely preventing harm to existing species.