Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards international climate and nature targets.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK fully supported the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and has already submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity National Targets that are fully aligned with the Framework. We will publish the full UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in due course, and we will provide an assessment of our progress in the implementation of the KMGBF, including progress towards the national targets, in our seventh and eighth national reports in February 2026 and June 2029, respectively.
The UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2030 and 2035 targets – to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% and 81% respectively on 1990 levels – are a fair and ambitious contribution to global action on climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goal, and remains in place.
We are absolutely committed to our climate targets. That is why making Britain a clean energy superpower is one of the five missions of this Government - delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the transition to net zero across the economy. This will make it easier and affordable for people across the country to move towards sustainable lifestyles.
The UK was the first major economy to halve its emissions, cutting them by around 53% between 1990 and 2023, while growing our economy by 79%.
The UK over-achieved against the first, second and third Carbon Budgets, and we will deliver an updated cross-economy plan in due course, which will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver carbon budgets 4-6 and the 2030 and 2035 NDCs on a pathway to net zero.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards meeting the statutory environmental target of 16.5 per cent tree cover in England by 2050.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are making progress towards the statutory target to reach 16.5% tree and woodland cover in England by 2050.
We have pledged up to £400 million for tree planting and peatland restoration over the current and next financial year and we have launched a Tree Planting Taskforce to support our plans to plant millions more trees. We will work to resolve barriers to help enable tree planting, boost biodiversity and grow the UK’s forestry sector.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards peatland restoration, and what consideration they have given to banning sales of peat compost and peat-containing products which contribute to the destruction of peatland habitats in the UK and in Europe.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities. That is why this Government is investing £400 million to protect and restore nature, including our peatlands.
We have ambitions to restore hundreds of thousands of hectares of peatlands across the country, and we are working to ensure that we have the most effective mechanisms in place to go further than we have before. Peatland restoration is currently funded via the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and going forwards will be primarily funded through Environmental Land Management schemes, such as the Landscape Recovery and Countryside Stewardship schemes.
Ministers are committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and are looking at next steps for measures to end the use of peat in horticulture. We continue to work alongside the horticultural sector to support progress on the peat free transition.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban bottom trawling.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bottom trawling can clearly be a damaging activity if it happens in the wrong place. We are considering next steps to manage bottom trawling, along with other fishing methods, where this might damage marine protected area features or benthic habitats, in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations. We are keen to continue to work closely with fisheries and marine stakeholders as we develop our plans for future fisheries and marine management.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Economic Forum’s top two global risks over the next ten years, namely extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, and biodiversity loss.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the importance of these global risks highlighted by the World Economic Forum. No society can thrive without protecting the environment on which we rely. That is why this Government is committed to ambitious action on climate and biodiversity. The UK is providing global leadership to end poverty on a liveable planet.
Climate change and biodiversity loss are key elements of the Government’s National Risk Register.
Internationally, we work closely with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, who provide the best available science to assess these risks. We are building global environmental ambition by accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions.
Domestically, our independent Climate Change Committee is working on the 4th Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA). We are building global environmental ambition – accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions. Defra is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008, including preparing a National Adaptation Programme every five years, informed by the CCRA. The State of Natural Capital report shows how to mitigate risks from biodiversity loss. We have also launched a rapid review environmental improvement plan to deliver on our legally binding environment targets.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impacts of nitrogen pollution, and what plans they have to tackle it.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will be providing a detailed response covering this question in written evidence to the Lords Inquiry on Nitrogen. Nitrogen - Committees - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, in accordance with the commitment of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference Canada in 2022, before COP 16 starts in Colombia on 21 October.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The four nations of the UK and the relevant UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies worked together to submit our “National Targets” on the 1st of August, committing us to meeting all 23 of the Global Biodiversity Framework targets at home. This means that our ambitious commitments to nature will be fully reflected in the global review being conducted at COP16. The UK National Targets are underpinned by a robust set of specific commitments and policies at UK and national level to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. These will be updated as new and revised policies are introduced. But it is clear there remains much more to be done for nature’s recovery. We will publish the full UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in due course, detailing further delivery plans and future ambitions.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to meet international obligations for nature conservation, including the Ramsar Convention, the Bern Convention and the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK meets its obligations under the Bern Convention as well as the EU Birds and Habitats Directives through the implementation of the Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations (2017) and the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). The UK is also an active member of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands and protects 176 Ramsar sites, more than any other country. We are playing a proactive role in preparations for the Ramsar COP15, taking place in Zimbabwe next July. The UK Government also meets our international obligations through proactive participation in other multilateral environmental agreements, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Convention on Migratory Species.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the theme of the forthcoming Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) being designated “Peace with Nature” by the government of Colombia, and in particular of the link between environmental breakdown and conflict internationally; and what are their objectives for COP16 regarding the relationship between humanity and nature to ensure greater global peace.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is a clear link between climate change, nature loss, peace and security. Environmental degradation in all its forms presents an unprecedented challenge for the security of people, states and the international community. It exacerbates resource competition, food and water insecurity, displacement of people, the risk of conflict, and humanitarian and economic crises, while eroding resilience and reducing capacity to respond.
The Government is working closely with Colombia and international partners to build global ambition on nature and to ensure a successful Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 under the official theme of ‘Peace with Nature’. We are committed to promoting coordinated global action to tackle the climate and nature crises and support peace and security, including through raising international awareness of the linkages and the critical importance of halting and reversing nature loss.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their priorities are for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Colombia in October.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government remains committed to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. COP16, in Cali, Colombia, will be the first opportunity to review our collective global progress against the goals and targets of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity framework agreed at COP15. Our priorities include operationalising the mechanism for sharing benefits derived from Digital genetic Sequence Information (DSI), championing an integrated approach to nature and climate as we head from COP16 to COP30 in Brazil, generating more finance for nature, and ensuring increased action is taken globally to achieve the targets agreed under the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).