Where I searched the UK National Archive from 1960 to the present for the phrase "environmental education" I came up with 26 entries. These started in 1972 with items about environmental education in Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Doncaster. Prominent entries related to the Belgrade and Tbilisi conferences. Most entries related to the 1970s, and there were none since 1986. There was one mention of CEE, but none of NAEE.
A trawl for ESD gave more results (161) but, prime facie, none relate to education and sustainability; UNESCO please note. Many refer to the Manpower Services Commission's Employment Service Division, and some to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (and its predecessors). A surprising number were reports from our ambassadors to the Baltic states, and one referred to someone's initials in a divorce case. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, given all this, there were no entries for "education for sustainable development" or "education for sustainability". Perhaps in 25 years time ...
Meanwhile, "sustainable development" yields 52 records and "sustainable development goals" none. What on Earth is going on?
I wonder what sort of answer the DFE might cook up in reply to your observations