Environment Agency EA2030 Strategy: Climate Resilience & Flood Risk

What is the Environment Agency’s EA2030 Strategy?

EA2030 is the Environment Agency’s strategic roadmap for the next five years and beyond, setting out how it intends to work with partners to tackle the climate and nature emergencies.

The strategy builds on previous goals and responds to new pressures, including extreme weather events, infrastructure demands, and the UK’s net-zero commitments.

The strategy is broken down into 3 goals, all of which include 5-year outcomes (with aims to deliver by 2030) and long-term (to 2050) vision:

• Healthy air, land and water: Improve environmental quality through cleaner water, healthier soils, and reduced pollution.
• Sustainable growth: Enable low-carbon, climate-resilient development that supports green jobs and environmental improvement.
• A nation resilient for climate change: Help people and places adapt to the growing risks of flooding, drought and extreme weather.

Key Takeaways from EA2030 for Flood Risk & Development

• Stronger focus on climate adaptation: Not just reducing emissions, but preparing for more frequent flooding and droughts.
• Natural solutions prioritised: Expect greater emphasis on nature-based flood management, like wetlands and upstream storage.
• Better use of data and digital tools: Including more dynamic modelling and forecasting for flood risk.
• Partnership working is essential: EA will increasingly rely on local authorities, developers, and consultants to co-deliver solutions.
• Planning influence: EA aims to have more proactive involvement in shaping climate-resilient places and infrastructure.

Linking With Recent Government Announcements

The EA2030 sets out that investment is coming and is required. The largest flooding programme in history was announced in June 2025 and updated July 2025 with almost £8 billion to be invested over the next decade. In the Spending Review, the Government also confirmed that £4.2 billion will be spent on the flooding programme over the next three years (2026/7 to 2028/9), which will be focused on both capital and resources, such as building new defences and repairing and maintaining existing ones.

The major funding pledge will bolster the government’s mission of accelerating economic growth by reducing the time and costs businesses face when recovering from floods and empowering them to invest in local areas. Furthermore, recent figures suggest every £1 spent on flood defences is expected to prevent around £8 in economic damage, meaning significant savings for public services, such as the NHS and schools.

EA2030: Implications for UK Developers

The investment will continue the government’s plans to protect cities and towns from the devastating impacts of flooding, including those in areas such as Oxford, Portsmouth, Derby, and Blackpool, among others. Providing confidence to investors to develop in these areas.

Aegaea has selected a few of the targets to demonstrate how they could be implemented and whether steps are already being taken to support the outcomes of the EA2030 and 2050 vision:

• Best available understanding of risks: We have already seen the improvements from NAFRA2, and with technology, envisage greater knowledge sharing and understanding to protect our communities.
• Influencing planning policy: We eagerly await the updates to the PPG and suspect future changes to come within the NPPF.
• Reducing water demand: At Aegaea, we have already seen and supported areas of water stress in Sussex North with Water Neutrality Statements. The London Plan further promotes water efficiency standards for residential development of 105 litres or less per person per day.
• Increasing nature-based solutions: Aegaea have observed the use of Natural Flood Management in practice and how nature-based solutions can support other environmental planning constraints, such as Nutrient Neutrality, through the creation of Wetlands.