Forest-Risk Commodities

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I shall take the noble Baroness’s concerns back to Defra because they are fair. But the issue is that we must make sure that we get the best regulatory approach to address deforestation in our supply chains. There are a number of factors we are considering, and I will just mention a couple. First is the compatibility of the forest-risk commodities approach which is enshrined in Schedule 17 to the Environment Act 2021 and the EU’s deforestation regulations. The issue is the differences between them—the EU approach introduces a strict deforestation-free standard and customs controls, whereas the Environment Act addresses illegal deforestation. The Government’s ongoing review of the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct that I just mentioned, led by the Department for Business and Trade, is also looking at the effectiveness of the UK’s approach to preventing human rights harms and environmental harms in supply chains. We must tie all this together if we are going to get it right and make it effective.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, returning to palm oil, global production affects at least 193 threatened species, with potential impacts on 54% of all threatened mammals and 64% of all threatened birds. It is the leading cause of orangutan decline: eight orangutans are lost every day. Do the Government not need to take urgent action on the deeply problematic product of palm oil?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I have already mentioned, we are absolutely committed to delivering this and ensuring that any regulatory framework we bring in that will affect any kind of product, such as palm oil and the UK trade in it, is going to be robust and effective, because there is no point in doing it if it is not going to make a difference.