Lord Bishop of Salisbury

I very much welcome publication of the Lambeth Declaration 2015 on climate change and would like to thank the Bishop of Salisbury, Nick Holtam, for his work in securing it.

Faith communities have a strong track record of bringing about real and lasting change at every level of society so we welcome this significant intervention on climate change and urge all faiths to work together in the lead up to Paris Climate Summit and beyond.

We all have a responsibility to learn how to live and develop sustainably in a world of finite resources. Caring for our environment and being conscious of our impact on it is central to many faith’s beliefs and something that faith groups communicate better than anyone.

The UK Government is working hard to secure a global climate deal in Paris and will continue to work with stakeholders from all sectors to help deliver an ambitious international agreement on climate change.

The Prime Minister, with other G7 leaders, recently reaffirmed their commitment to jointly mobilise USD $100 billion of climate finance a year by 2020 from a wide variety of sources, both public and private, and that they stand ready to engage proactively in the negotiations of the finance provisions of the Paris outcome. The UK has a strong track record on climate finance and is meeting its commitments, for example committing £3.87bn through the International Climate Fund (ICF) in this spending review period. Climate finance commitments beyond 2015/16 will be determined through the forthcoming Spending Review process.

The Intelligence and Security Committee was reconstituted on 14 July 2020.

The report is the property of the Committee, not the Government, and it will be up to them to choose when they wish to publish it. I am sure the Committee will take note of the Rt. Reverend Prelate’s interest in the publication of the Report.

In line with his responsibilities in the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Prime Minister carefully considered and approved the report, and is content that its publication would not prejudice the functions of those bodies that safeguard our national security.

We acknowledge the public’s interest in the publication of the report, however - as the Government has repeatedly made clear - the report itself is the property of the independent Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and as such it is not for the Government to publish ISC reports; it is for the ISC to lay them before Parliament. Once a new Committee has been established, it will be up to them to choose when they wish to publish it. An announcement on the new Committee will be made in due course.

In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.

The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes.

Further detail on eligibility will be announced before the full launch of the scheme.

The UK and Indian governments are closely engaged in regular dialogue on issues of clean energy transition, including rapid development of renewables. UK partnership with India in support of these objectives includes technical collaboration, joint research, and support for investment and commercial partnerships in renewables. Bilateral engagement is backed by a Ministerial Energy Dialogue, which includes discussion of alternatives to coal, and accompanied by support for clean energy transition through multilateral channels. The UK also supports India-led initiatives like the International Solar Alliance. The UK is committed to close engagement with India as a long term partner on this issue, including through engagement with the COP26 Energy Transitions campaign.

Through the Powering Past Coal Alliance initiative we have also actively engaged with a number of Indian states: Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have committed to no new coal for the next few years. India currently still requires coal as a baseload and to manage intermittent renewables; plans for new coal production are in line with this need and no further. Representations to the Government of India are mindful of this fact.

The Government are committed to accelerating the decarbonisation of our gas supplies by increasing the proportion of green gas in the grid. In order to meet our climate targets, we need to reduce our dependence on burning natural gas to heat our homes.

The Government will consult later this year on the appropriate mechanism to deliver the commitment to increase the proportion of green gas in the grid. This consultation will inform subsequent decisions about the design of the future mechanism, its implementation, timetable and targets.

The Future Homes Standard, announced in the Spring Statement, will be implemented through an uplift to the Building Regulations, subject to consultation in 2019.

The Future Homes Standard builds on the Industrial Strategy Clean Growth buildings mission to at least halve the energy use of new build property by 2030 and halve the cost of renovating existing buildings to a similar standard as new buildings, while increasing quality and safety. The Future Homes Standard will require all new build homes to have low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency, and will be introduced by 2025.

The Committee on Climate Change are a body that provides independent advice to Government on building a low-carbon economy and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Their recommendation about new connections to the gas grid is one of several made in the CCC report. The Government is reviewing the CCC’s recommendations.

The UK is committed to delivering the ambition of the Paris Agreement. The Climate Change Act committed the UK to reducing emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 levels and we are phasing out the use of unabated coal for electricity generation by 2025. In response to the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C, we have asked the Climate Change Committee to advise on whether further action is needed.

Cumbria County Council took the decision to grant planning permission for the Woodhouse Colliery, subject to the completion of a section 106 planning obligation. It was the Council’s responsibility to consider this application in its role as minerals planning authority, and the Council would have considered all relevant material considerations, including environmental impacts, before reaching their decision.

We committed in our manifesto to increasing planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025 and are exploring whether longer-term statutory targets for trees in England would be appropriate.

To achieve this, we announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund to increase planting in England over this parliament and will publish a new England Tree Strategy in spring.

This year we kick-started efforts through:

• £12.1 million investment in expanding England's ten Community Forests;
• £2.5 million from the Shared Outcomes Fund for research pilots to grow trees outside of woodlands;
• £1.4 million of planting along rivers through the Environment Agency;
• Over 84,000 trees planted in towns and cities by the second round of the £10 million Urban Tree Challenge Fund;
• Support from the £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund for a range of charity projects to protect and plant trees.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will make sure all existing EU environmental law continues to operate in UK law at the end of the transition period, providing businesses and stakeholders with certainty. We have a long history of environmental protection supported by a strong legal framework which predates membership of the EU, and we will safeguard and improve on this record.

As regards scrutiny of the implementation of environmental measures, the Government intends to bring the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) into operation in 2021. The delay to the Environment Bill due to Covid-19 means it will not be formally established by the beginning of the year as originally planned. The Government is therefore establishing an interim secretariat which will support the OEP Chair-designate and will receive complaints about alleged failures of public authorities to comply with environmental law from the start of next year. This will be in place until the OEP can begin its statutory functions.

As a result, the OEP will be able to use its legal powers to investigate and take enforcement action, where appropriate, against any serious failures alleged to have occurred from 1 January 2021. For example, if the interim Secretariat receives a complaint in February 2021 about an alleged failure to comply with environmental law which happens in January 2021, it will pass this to the OEP once it becomes operational. At that point the OEP will be able to consider whether the matter is serious and action should be taken in connection with that complaint. As a result, there will be no gap in time where public authorities cannot be held to account.

The Government regularly engages with businesses in the UK to support the transition to sustainable supply chains. For example, the Government has engaged with the UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil since 2012, and the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Soya since 2018 when it was established. With the support of roundtables the UK achieved 77% certified sustainable palm oil in 2018 – up from 16% in 2010. The Government also engages through the Council for Sustainable Business, who advises Defra on how businesses can help achieve the aims of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Biodiversity is one of the three challenges the Council is focusing on in 2020.

In July 2019 the Government convened the Global Resource Initiative (GRI) taskforce to investigate what the UK can do to reduce our global environmental footprint, fulfilling a 25 Year Environment Plan commitment. The GRI drew on a wide range of expertise from across business, finance and civil society and consulted over 200 businesses and organisations to formulate their final recommendations report, which was published in March this year. We are considering the GRI recommendations carefully and will issue a formal response in due course.

Drawing on the GRI recommendations, the Government recently consulted on whether to introduce a mandatory due diligence requirement to tackle climate change and prevent biodiversity loss in supply chains by making it illegal for larger businesses to use forest risk commodities that have not been produced in accordance with relevant local laws. The due diligence consultation closed on 5 October 2020, generating a wealth of responses including from businesses. We will be publishing a response on gov.uk shortly, including a summary of the feedback received.

We committed in our manifesto to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025.

As noted in a public paper this summer, we are exploring whether a statutory target for trees in England would be appropriate, under the target setting process proposed by the Environment Bill.

To increase planting in England, we recently consulted on proposals for a new ambitious England Tree Strategy, which will be published in spring 2021. This will set out priority policies and plans for the £640m Nature for Climate Fund.

The planting season begins soon, and we hope to build on the increasing annual planting rates seen in England over the last few years.

The Environment Agency (EA) is the competent authority for waste shipments for England. The actions taken by EA officers when they prevent a proposed waste shipment leaving a site or leaving a port will be determined on a case by case basis. When EA officers stop a shipment of waste at port, they oversee the return of the waste to either the site of origin or to an appropriately permitted waste facility. Waste can be held at port until the EA are satisfied that those responsible for the shipment have put appropriate measures in place to manage the waste in accordance with the relevant waste legislation. EA intervention at sites of loading will include officers explaining to businesses why waste cannot be exported, for example if there is evidence of poor waste quality or paperwork issues, and this intervention activity prevents thousands of tonnes of waste from being illegally exported each year. The EA addresses the illegal export of waste using an intelligence-led approach and EA officers will continue to monitor the compliance of those deemed at risk of illegal export, ensuring improvements are made and future shipments are compliant with the regulations.

The UK government has been at the forefront of assessing the link between climate change and migration. In 2011, UK Government Office for Science published the Foresight report on Migration and Global Environmental Change, which used cutting-edge science to assess how environmental changes such as flooding, drought and rising sea levels may influence global human migration. The government continues to assess emerging science and evidence in this area.

The UK is a leader in ambitious climate action and delivering success at COP26 is the government’s top international priority. We were the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050 and we are committed to helping communities adapt to the impacts of climate change that are already happening, particularly in the most vulnerable countries. This includes supporting sustainable livelihoods and reducing the risk and impact of disaster, which will help ensure that people are not forced to leave their homes and communities while delivering on the Global Goals.

The Department for International Development (DFID), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) are together responsible for spending the £5.8 billion of International Climate Finance (ICF) pledged by the Government in the period 2016/17 to 2020/21. The funding is earmarked within departmental budgets.

In total these three departments have spent ICF of £1,119 million in 2016/17 and £958 million in 2017/18, representing 36% of the £5.8 billion commitment. The amount spent in 2018/19 is not yet available.

The Government remains committed to delivering the £5.8 billion pledge in full by 2020/21, recognising the vital importance of supporting developing countries to tackle climate change. Each department has plans in place to deploy this funding over the remaining period to achieve the maximum impact possible.

As announced to Parliament last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough, but necessary decision to temporarily reduce the Official Development Assistance budget. This includes the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which will continue to support the delivery of the Government's top national security priorities. The FCDO is reviewing all individual country allocations as part of the Country Business Planning process, including specific implications for all spend in South Sudan. These will be communicated to Parliament in due course. The UK is steadfast in our commitment to supporting victims of conflict worldwide. We will continue our engagement with organisations such as the South Sudan Council of Churches to deliver shared goals on promoting reconciliation, healing and bringing a lasting end to the conflict. In particular, we will continue to press for full, inclusive implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement, which remains South Sudan's best chance for long-term peace and stability.

The UK-led Health Pooled Fund is supporting activities in South Sudan that are recognised globally as important contributors to reducing maternal and under five mortality rates. As announced last year, the impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance. The FCDO is reviewing all individual country allocations as part of the Country Business Planning process, including specific implications for all spend in South Sudan and therefore the Health Pooled Fund. These will be communicated to Parliament in due course.

The full and inclusive implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement is a priority for the UK as the best chance for a more stable and prosperous future for the people of South Sudan. We welcome recent progress, including commitment to proceed with transitional justice mechanisms and the formation of regional governance structures. Overall implementation is however slow, with continued delays to tasks such as the unification of armed forces and the appointment of a transitional national legislature contributing to increased levels of violence and a worsening humanitarian situation. Civil Society and faith organisations have an important role in supporting progress on the peace process. This includes work by the South Sudan Council of Churches' under their Action Plan for Peace, which has promoted advocacy, peace and reconciliation, and provided a neutral forum to support dialogue between communities at a national and local level.

The Government continues to take its environmental responsibilities very seriously and is committed to meeting its climate change targets.

The UK is a world leader in clean growth. Spring Budget 2020 reinforce the UK’s strong track record in this area with at least £800m for carbon capture and storage, over £1bn of further support for ultra-low emission vehicles, at least doubling funding for energy innovation, and tax measures to encourage greater energy efficiency and tackle plastic waste.

We recognise the importance of a strong economy to support the transition to net zero, meet our Paris Agreement obligations and continue the UK's leadership in clean growth.

As set out in the Government's Clean Growth Strategy, we plan to consult in 2019 on an uplift to the energy efficiency requirements for new homes and other buildings where there are safe, practical, cost-effective and affordable opportunities to do so. We have built into the planning system, through the revised National Planning Policy Framework clear expectations on reducing emissions, adaptation, mitigation and resilience to climate change impacts.

The Government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings, and there are a number of policies in place to support this, including the Private Rented Sector Minimum Standard and the Energy Company Obligation scheme.

In August 2018, the Government’s Social Housing Green Paper asked whether Government should consider changes to what constitutes a decent home, including considering whether criteria around energy performance is demanding enough and delivers the right standards in social housing. The consultation closed in November 2019 and we will publish a response in due course.