The third EIP from Government since 2018 shows a worrying lack of commitment to ending peat and pesticide use.

While former EIPs addressed the need to “reduce pesticide use”, the latest plan is far vaguer, outlining “minimising environmental risks from chemicals and pesticides…and minimising the risks of pesticides whilst maintaining food security”. The delivery plan for a ban on peat in horticulture is similarly ambiguous and phrased as “when Parliamentary time allows”.

The only firm commitments included in this latest EIP are ones already announced back in March 2025, for a 10% reduction in pesticide use in the arable sector by 2030, and legislation which prevents emergency approvals granted for three neonicotinoids.

The preamble of the report is also of grave concern. In it, the government outlines the “significant part” chemicals and pesticides play in our daily lives.

“They are in our medicines, they clean our drinking water, protect the crops that feed us, and make the products we use last longer,” it states. “Chemicals, including pesticides, is a major export sector in the UK, with annual exports worth £29 billion (ONS 2025)...”

Our response to the Environmental Improvement Plan

“It’s hard not to despair - the time for serious reform in all aspects of environmental improvement is right now,” says our CEO Fiona Taylor. “It’s beyond belief that this report lumps pesticides in with all chemicals and classes them as a force for good.

“The government is missing a golden opportunity to invest in public health by setting out a pathway to eliminate pesticides – and each day that a peat ban is shelved is another day this precious natural resource is stripped from our ancient peat bogs, undermining their ability to store water, carbon and mitigate against flooding.”

The Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK) adds: “While those concerned with protecting human health and the natural environment will be bitterly disappointed [by the EIP], pesticide companies – and their associates in the industrial farming lobby – must be rubbing their hands with glee. Their lobbying is clearly working!

“The pesticide industry loves to spread the long-disproven myth that without agrochemicals we will all starve, and they weaponize the term ‘food security’ to push back against any calls for pesticide reduction. In reality, the massive declines in pollinator populations (caused in large part by the overuse of pesticides and habitat destruction) pose a much greater threat to UK food security. However, it seems the government has once again bowed to industry pressure to present the issue in this way.”

Commenting on the EIP, Sally Nex, Peat-free Partnership advocate said: “The government has sidestepped its obligations and flunked defining a firm plan to deliver legislation to end peat sales. Conditional commitment ends up being commitment without action. After years of painstaking discussions, research, trials and hard work within the horticultural industry we expected more than this vague promise of maybe-one-day indifference. We want and need delivery, to restore business certainty to a horticulture industry that’s been left in limbo for too long.

“Growers are calling for government to deliver on a 2030 ban. MPs from across the political spectrum have spoken out in support. Governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are looking to the UK Government for leadership. Hundreds of ordinary people have already signed our recently-launched petition for legislation in 2026 – an action which wouldn’t have been necessarily had the government been more decisive. What more is it going to take for the Government to just get on with it and legislate to end peat sales now?”

Five ways to take action against peat and pesticides

Want to get your voice heard? There are lots of ways you can express your disappointment at the new EIP:

Sign the petition to call on the government to ban peat sales.
Sign the open letter to remove pesticides from UK shelves.
Learn more about the impacts of pesticides, and their alternatives in our Pesticide Hub.
Find out how to garden without peat in our For Peat’s Sake pages.
Follow our social media feeds @gardenorganicuk for updates about these and future campaigns.