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These initiatives were driven by Lord Bishop of Norwich, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Lord Bishop of Norwich has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Lord Bishop of Norwich has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
His Majesty's Government provides grants to a wide range of stakeholders, including those motivated by faith, to conserve and restore ecosystems internationally. For example, Defra has provided funding to faith-based organisations in Madagascar to enable rural Malagasy to raise their incomes, restore tree cover and conserve ecosystems through agroforestry.
Over the last five years (2018/19 - 2022/23) the UK spent £1,397 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on programmes that protected and restored nature, including £865 million specifically targeting forests. Between 2021/22 and 2025/26 the UK has pledged to spend at least £3 billion of our International Climate Finance (ICF) on restoring and protecting nature, including £1.5 billion on forests. Our latest results [UK International Climate Finance results 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)]show that between 2011 and 2023 UK ICF has avoided 413,000 hectares of ecosystem loss, and generated or protected ecosystem services valued at £5,302,000.
The UK Government has not made a formal assessment of the Communion Forest Initiative but would be happy to meet with representatives to hear more about their work. It is heartening to learn about this initiative from the Anglican Communion, as it echoes the importance this government places on efforts to restore and protect forests. Please thank your teams for their efforts, noting that it is important that we all are working to combat climate change and reverse forest loss.
The government remains committed to returning to a target of spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA when, on a sustainable basis, the government is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling.
Those sponsoring applicants on the partner and child family route are required to meet the Minimum Income Requirement. At present there are no exceptions for specific jobs or professions.
The changes announced by the Home Secretary did not include any amendments to the T2 Minister of Religion route. There are no plans to make any changes to the route at this time.