Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce air pollution.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will continue to drive down emissions from domestic burning, agriculture, transport, and industry – delivering cleaner air for all.
PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:
These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding is available to local authorities for clean air programmes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have allocated over £883 million to help local authorities develop and implement local NO2 reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans. In addition, the Local Air Quality Grant scheme has supported over 500 projects with a total of over £53 million since 2010. We are currently considering whether the Local Air Quality Grant scheme might be redesigned to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Officials have had recent discussions with Local Government Association about the decision on the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to support the establishment of (a) global and (b) national targets to reduce plastic production under the potential international plastics treaty under negotiation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the forthcoming round of negotiations in Canada, we will be continuing to support a treaty that will address the full lifecycle of plastic, including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, addressing plastic design, and encouraging more reuse and recycling of plastic.
As negotiations are ongoing and this is the first round of negotiations where treaty text will be negotiated, we cannot prejudge what will be agreed. The UK would support an overarching global target where the particular measures to reach the target are nationally determined.
As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty, we will continue to participate actively in these negotiations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether a Minister from his Department plans to attend the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, INC4, taking place in Ottawa, Canada, in April 2024.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution the UK will be represented in the negotiations by a delegation of UK Government officials. A Defra Minister is also planning to attend high-level ministerial events immediately prior to the negotiations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on a global plastics treaty.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is a leading voice in tackling marine plastic pollution, and co-sponsored the proposal to prepare a new international, legally binding plastics treaty. The UK is a member of the High ambition coalition to end plastic pollution and has taken an ambitious stance in negotiations, supporting a treaty that will address the full life cycle of plastic including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, addressing plastic design and encouraging more recycling and re-use of plastic.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential connection between global ocean protection and mitigating the effects of climate change.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that climate change and biodiversity loss, alongside other human pressures, are having a detrimental impact on ocean health. Ocean action can be part of our response to both challenges; protecting and restoring coastal and marine habitats can provide a wide array of benefits, including flood protection, improving biodiversity, carbon sequestration and supporting ecosystems to be more resilient to climate impacts.
The UK plays a leading role in advocating for nature and ocean to be embedded in global climate action. The annual UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue was established under our COP26 Presidency. At COP28, we worked with international partners to secure a negotiated decision for the first Global Stocktake which encouraged the strengthening of ocean-based climate action.
As Chair of the Global Ocean Alliance, the UK successfully led calls for ambitious and meaningful outcomes for the ocean from the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15. As agreed at that COP, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework includes commitments to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030, restore degraded ecosystems and to tackle the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification, with Parties noting the interlinkage between these targets.
The UK played a significant and proactive role in securing The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement which will mean much greater protection for the two-thirds of the global ocean that lies beyond national jurisdiction. The Agreement will play a key role supporting the delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including helping to achieve the target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Financed from the UK aid budget, the £500 million Blue Planet Fund supports developing countries to reduce poverty, protect and sustainably manage their marine resources and address human-generated threats across four interlinked key themes, one of which is climate change.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to make a decision on the non-charging proposal for the Greater Manchester clean air zone.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We requested further evidence from the Greater Manchester authorities to enable us to consider their plans and they have recently provided further information. We will respond to Greater Manchester in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 16 August 2023 and 25 October 2023 from the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, reference number MC2023/16104.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 14 December 2023. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 452 on Joint Air Quality Unit, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs/Department for Transport Joint Air Quality Unit (a) fulfills its remit and (b) delivers value for money.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministerial oversight of the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) is in line with that for other parts of the Department. The 2022 National Audit Office review of the NO2 Programme, which Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) delivers, noted the progress that Government has made in tackling illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution.