Letter to the Prime Minister on nature's value

In February 2025, amid ongoing concerns about the UK Government's approach to nature, particularly in relation to what would become the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, several environmental organisations wrote to the Prime Minister to ask for a better reflection of nature's value.

The IES was one of the signatories, along with the British Ecological Society (BES), Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), The Environmental Policy Forum (EPF), Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF), Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM), Institution of Royal Engineers (InstRE), The Landscape Institute (LI), and the Society for the Environment (SocEnv).

While the letter was not successful in reversing the Government's approach to nature and planning, work in this area has continued.

In November 2025, the IES published an updated version of its landmark report 'Our Shared Mission for Sustainable Wellbeing' to include a chapter on biodiversity: 'Changing the narrative on nature to reflect its value'.

Header image credit: © Photocreo Bednarek via Adobe Stock