Two new analytical tools launched will help a wide range of users, including local authorities, government, NGOs and others, to identify at a street-level where environmental and climate pressures are hitting socio-economically deprived communities hardest. 

The Index of Multiple Environmental Deprivation (IMED) maps cumulative environmental pressures, including climate risks, air quality, flood risk, noise and access to green space, across England at street-level resolution and other local geographies including Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) 

The Environmental Equity Index (EEI) builds on this by incorporating socio-economic and health indicators to reveal where these pressures intersect and accumulate. Used together, the tools help identify areas experiencing the greatest combined burdens, supporting more targeted and joined-up responses.

The tools provide a consistent, transparent evidence base designed for use by a wide range of organisations who can then target resources, strengthen planning decisions and take more joined-up approaches to environmental, socio-economic and health challenges. 

David Drake, director for people and nature at Natural England said:

“Natural England’s expertise in green infrastructure, spatial data and nature-based solutions shaped how these tools were designed and what they measure.

“Decision-makers now have something they haven’t had before: a consistent, high-resolution evidence base covering the whole of England that can tell us, at a glance, where environmental disadvantage is greatest so that we can take action.”