Landowners and resources companies will be targeted by Labor’s new environmental watchdog for any broken promises to protect landscapes and biodiversity, according to Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek.

The warning came in an interview with The Australian Financial Review on Monday, in which Ms Plibersek announced the release next month of a “damning” state of the environment report and vowed to continue the Coalition’s fight to stop the UN listing the Great Barrier Reef as endangered.