UK Green Taxonomy

Baroness Parminter Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Parminter]

To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to their commitment in Greening finance: A roadmap to sustainable investing, published on 1 October 2021, to consult on the “UK Green Taxonomy” in the first quarter of 2022, what plans they have to publish the draft taxonomy.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury (Baroness Penn) (Con)]

The UK green taxonomy is an important part of the Government’s ambitious programme of work on sustainable finance. However, it is critical that we learn from approaches being developed in other jurisdictions and take the time to get this right. The Government will continue to engage with scientific experts and market participants this year on how best to take forward work in this area.

[Baroness Parminter (LD)]

I thank the Minister for her reply. As she will know, many firms really support the transition to net zero, but this will not be achieved without clear direction from government. The Government’s independent green taxonomy advisory group told them last month that they had to send a “rapid market signal”, or we risked falling further behind Europe, which launched its taxonomy in 2020. So when will the Government publish their consultation on the green taxonomy? Will we get it by Christmas, or will the market just have to accept that we will fall further behind in the world and never become the financial leader on green issues that we should be?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness on the importance of progressing this work at pace but it is also important that we get it right. For the green taxonomy to have real value for the market, we need to make sure that it is user-friendly and operable, and that is what we are focused on. We continue to progress our work in this area and remain committed to producing the green taxonomy.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Parminter Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Parminter (LD)]

My Lords, I am obliged to welcome much that is in the Queen’s Speech, but it is with sincere regret that I note that for the second year running, the word “environment” does not feature in it at all. There are no measures to protect or enhance our natural environment and no measures to deliver the Conservative manifesto commitment to protect our public forests and woodlands for the good of the country. As the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, has just said, there is no wildlife Bill, and yet we have had the recommendations from the Law Commission since last December. We need to ensure that the competing demands of farmers, environmentalists and those who enjoy the countryside are provided for through a legal framework that makes provision for wildlife. We urgently need a new Bill.

There is also no new Bill on the crucial issue of water abstraction. Our water abstraction laws are now 40 years out of date. Levels of sustainable abstraction are way beyond what they should be, and we are running out of time. By 2019 the new provisions set out in the Water Act 2014 will come into force so that more trading in water will be allowed, and significant volumes of water for which licences are already held but are not presently being traded will be allowed to be traded. We therefore need a water abstraction regime soon.

As I say, for the second year running we have no mention of the environment, so we on these Benches will do what we can to bring forward in other Bills environmental measures, in much the way we did in the Housing and Planning Bill in the last Session. I am sure that the neighbourhood planning and infrastructure Bill will offer us similar opportunities. However, we need to look to other jurisdictions if we want to protect our environment, and in that regard I point out that the gracious Speech does refer to the forthcoming referendum on European Union membership.

Since 1970 the European Union has been the core framework in most areas of environmental policy. It has undoubtedly the most developed and significant body of environmental law and policy on the global stage, and for a very good reason. It is at that level that, as members, we can have the most leverage and influence on environmental matters of global significance, the most important of which is climate change, as was mentioned by the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones of Whitchurch and Lady Featherstone. It was under the coalition Government that significant progress was made to ensure that in the run-up to Paris, through our membership of the European Union, we would be able to encourage other countries such as the United States and China to bring forward provisions that would allow us to secure the Paris agreement. We still hope that this Government will now deliver on that agreement in their forthcoming programme.

It is not only environmental issues like climate change that need global solutions; there are also the issues with cross-border implications.

Travelling around looking at our beaches today brings me great joy because, thanks to EU legislation that has been in place since 1970, they are now in good condition, and otters can be found in rivers in every single county. Similarly, we have the birds directive to thank for the fact that migratory bird species are protected. I have a question for the Minister to which he can respond in his summing up, or perhaps in a letter at a later date. The birds directive is fundamental legislation that protects our birds, particularly endangered species. During the policy formulation process some two years ago, more than 100,000 people in the UK wrote to the Commission supporting the fitness review of the birds directive and the need to keep it in place. We had the outline draft findings last November, and a commitment was given that we would have the findings by early June. What pressure are the Government applying to ensure that this fundamental legislation and the expected review are delivered?

Of course, European legislation is not perfect. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the common fisheries policy was no friend to either fishermen or the fish. But I am delighted that, under the coalition Government, the common fisheries policy revisions resulted in the end to discard, the introduction of maximum sustainable yields, and fishing policy being decided at regional level. Those things are already bearing fruit, and it is my contention that we need to be in Europe, working with our partners to protect the environment. That is the way forward for us.

In conclusion, I want to acknowledge the work of all those on these Benches—indeed, on all Benches—and those outside the House, who, through groups such as Environment for Europe, are supporting the case for staying in Europe and showing that, by being in Europe, we can best protect our environment.

Taxation: Plastic Bags

Baroness Parminter Excerpts

Monday 28th May 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Parminter]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering introducing a tax on plastic bags.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, the Treasury keeps all tax policy under continuous review. The Government are aware of the initiatives on the taxation of carrier bags in the devolved Administrations and will be interested to see the evidence of their effectiveness and administrative costs.

[Baroness Parminter]

My Lords, each year we use 6 billion plastic bags in UK supermarkets. Does the Minister recognise the success of the taxation schemes in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales which have resulted in a 90% drop in plastic bags and have raised revenue to help deal with the environmental problems caused by these icons of a throwaway society?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, I have learnt a lot about plastic bags over the past couple of days. As I am sure my noble friend knows, there is a voluntary scheme in this country which has reduced the use of single-use bags by some 45% across the UK. The first evidence of how the Welsh scheme, which started on 1 October last year, is doing will come out imminently. Scotland is about to issue a consultation document about possible charging for carrier bags which we will look at, and it is intended that the Northern Ireland scheme will come in in April 2013. I think it is as yet a little early to see what has happened in the devolved Administrations.

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Parminter Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Parminter]

My Lords, for Liberal Democrats, there is much to be welcomed in the gracious Speech. The proposals for a green investment bank and an energy Bill will help us meet legally binding carbon reduction targets to reduce our emissions by 80% by 2050. Beyond that—here, I fear that I will diverge from the views of my noble friend Lady Noakes, who is sadly not in her place—they are welcome because they will help secure investment in low-carbon power generation, create green jobs and deliver lower consumer energy bills in the face of escalating world oil and gas prices.

However, I shall focus on another welcome green proposal in the speech, which has not had much mention in the House today: a commitment to a draft water Bill. One of the many challenges that we face in the UK and across Europe is protecting the health of our rivers and lakes while keeping water available and affordable. Water resources are under pressure from current unsustainable levels of abstraction, with the Environment Agency calculating that only one-quarter of our rivers and lakes are fully functioning ecosystems.

The water abstraction system was set up more than 40 years ago, in the decade I was born. Given the damage already done to ecosystems, maintaining such a system is untenable, particularly as the effects of climate change and the extreme weather it brings us, combined with population growth in the UK, all take hold. The Government’s water White Paper suggested that legislation to change the abstraction regime would not take effect until the mid-to-late 2020s. I endorse the conclusions of the report by the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee D on EU freshwater policy, published just two weeks ago, which says that delaying this reform for at least 15 years fails to respond to the urgency of the situation.

That urgency is further highlighted when one considers the planned shift to low-carbon energy generation over the coming years. The electricity supply industry is already responsible for 43% of water abstraction, more than the amount abstracted for public use. Do the Government have the research to inform the draft Bill about the possible water abstraction demands of differing electricity supply models over the next 20 years? Just how water-intensive is nuclear energy as opposed to electricity supplied by wind farms? Given the pressures that differing supply scenarios may put on the water supply, undertaking such analysis and making it publicly available would seem essential.

I recognise that changes to the abstraction licensing regime will be complex, with more than 30,000 licences in existence—although, to be blunt, it cannot be as complex as reorganising the National Health Service. However, we must act now to fundamentally reform the regime so that it takes into account the environmental realities that we face. Can the Minister therefore explain why the Government feel that they can produce a draft water Bill in 2012 but intend to wait until beyond the lifetime of this Parliament to deal comprehensively with overabstraction?

Tackling water pollution is also a priority. Defra estimates the cost of treatment technology to tackle certain pharmaceutical substances alone in wastewater to be around £27 billion. It is essential that the Government work with our European partners to acquire more knowledge of the risks posed principally by pharmaceutical substances entering wastewater and the methods of reducing this risk before effluent containing the substances requires wastewater treatment. As a Liberal Democrat committed to the “polluter pays” principle, I hope that this would include consideration of the contribution that pharmaceutical manufacturers could be asked to make to mitigating those risks.

As my noble friend Lady Miller pointed out, this draft Bill is an important opportunity to engender recognition of the ecosystem services that water provides. The announcement of the members of the Natural Capital Committee last Friday was a welcome sign of the Government’s commitment to embedding the value of natural capital and its potential to support growth into decision-making, as is the Government’s commitment to further reform of the CAP to promote the farming industry’s role as custodians of the natural environment. Businesses which rely on water as part of their industrial and creative processes need to factor water supply into their decision-making, and this draft Bill could help by introducing a requirement for businesses to measure their water impacts and develop specific water strategies to ensure security of their water supply. In this draft Bill, will the Government help companies ensure such water resilience?

Businesses need to review their use of water and seek to minimise wastage, but so do we need to keep bills low. We will therefore have to do more to help people value and save water. Smart water metering, combined with advice on how to reduce water usage, and social tariffs which minimise affordability issues for disadvantaged heavy-use households, give consumers greater control over their water consumption. In France, water meters are compulsory, and by 2015 over half the homes in England and Wales will be on water meters. Liberal Democrats support compulsory smart water metering in water-stressed areas and I hope the draft Bill will propose this measure for England and Wales.

Keeping water bills affordable—at present the average household bill is about £1 a day for water and sewerage—is important. However, in these challenging economic times, if people have to pay more for this crucial resource we must ensure that they fully understand what they are paying for. They must feel connected to their local areas and know the benefits that freshwater lakes, rivers and streams provide for their local wildlife and ecosystems. To that end, the recently launched “Love Your River” campaign, supported by Defra, along with the National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, Keep Britain Tidy, Waterwise and the water companies, is to be applauded.

If, however, we are to get individuals to start being more responsible with their water usage, it is critical that it is seen that the water companies tackle leakages with renewed vigour. The Environment Agency estimates that the current rate of leakages from our water supply is 20 to 25%. That seems a remarkably high figure to regard as acceptable. Ofwat should focus far more on the environmental impacts when setting future leakage targets for water companies.

The draft water Bill has the potential to deliver much to conserve this vital resource for both the public and our economy. The opportunity must not be squandered in the expectation that the privatised market will alone deliver the scale and pace of change that is urgently required.