Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the eradication of Japanese Knotweed; and what programmes of action they are proposing for 2021.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Our research into an effective method of controlling Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) continues. The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) has successfully collected better climatically matched populations of the psyllid, Aphalara itadori, from Japan, and is currently evaluating it as a biological control agent for Japanese knotweed in the UK.
In 2021 we will continue to work closely with the CABI on researching and developing biological control methods for this species. Until such a method is found, long term management, using physical and chemical methods, and good biosecurity, to prevent spread, will remain essential.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the rate of (1) erosion, and (2) widening, of footpaths in upland, coastal and other popular areas due to any increased usage during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what plans they have to provide extra funding to national parks and other relevant authorities for any resulting extra costs for the repair and maintenance of such footpaths.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The maintenance of public rights of way is a local issue and local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to plan improvements to the existing rights of way network in their area.
Local authorities receive most of their rights of way funding from central Government through the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) to deliver various duties, including ROWIPs. It is not ring-fenced, and we cannot say how much of the RSG authorities should spend on ROWIPs. It is up to local authorities to manage their own budgets and decide how much they should spend on their different duties and for local people to hold them to account.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to establish, and (2) to publish, a register of participants of the Environmental Land Management Scheme; if so, where any such register will be published; and whether any such register will include detail on the scheme (a) requirements, and (b) participant’s (i) land holdings, (ii) land area, (iii) land managers, (iv) joining date, and (v) other relevant matters.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Section 2(8) of the Agriculture Act 2020 provides the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations requiring the Secretary of State or another person to publish specified information about any financial assistance that has been given under the Act.
In August 2020, Defra conducted a targeted consultation inviting the views of stakeholders on a proposed Financial Assistance Statutory Instrument which would require the publication of detailed beneficiary information of those participating in the Environmental Land Management National Pilot. Defra is currently considering the responses submitted during the consultation ahead of introducing the Statutory Instrument for Parliament to consider ahead of the launch of the National Pilot in 2021. A response to the views received on the consultation document will be shared with stakeholders in due course.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the The State of the Planet address by the United Nations Secretary-General at Columbia University on 2 December.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Secretary General's speech was the latest of a number of clarion calls he has made for action to address the biodiversity and climate change crises we face today.
The Government shares the Secretary General's concern. That is why the UK helped drive discussions to deliver the Leaders' Pledge for Nature, which was signed by 77 countries (including the UK) at the UN General Assembly in September, setting out urgent actions to tackle the international biodiversity and climate crises. In addition, as the Secretary General highlighted, the UK has already put in place commitments to deliver on many of his imperatives domestically. These include our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 and the replacement of existing area based agricultural payments so that farmers will in future be paid for work that enhances the environment, such as tree or hedge planting, river management to mitigate flooding, or creating or restoring habitats for wildlife.
The need for a green and resilient recovery from the current pandemic is something which the UK is firmly committed to and the ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution, which we published in November, will be central to delivering that. Whether in terms of delivering more renewable energy and lower emissions or additional protection of our natural environment, our plan will deliver on many of the Secretary General's calls and demonstrates UK leadership in doing so.
As the Secretary General outlined, 2020 was meant to be a "super year" for both biodiversity and the climate. That focus has now shifted to next year and we are committed to using the opportunities provided by our G7 Presidency and our Presidency of the UNFCCC CoP26, as well as opportunities provided by the CBD CoP 15, the UN Food Systems Summit and the UN Decade of Ecosystem restoration which will be launched in 2021, to demonstrate UK leadership and to drive global actions, not just words to address the crises.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they prioritise measures (1) to reduce carbon emissions, and (2) to conserve habitats; whether more priority is given to one over the other; and if so, how they decide the differing level of priority.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The climate and biodiversity crises are linked, and this Government believes they have to be tackled together. Globally, climate change is the third biggest driver of biodiversity loss, while biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation further exacerbate climate change - releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere and reducing our ability to adapt to a changing climate.
As we develop our plans to deliver our world-leading net zero target at home, we will need to progress climate change and biodiversity objectives together. For example, we will need to balance land use change for mitigation purposes such as planting trees, with enhancing the natural environment and improving food security. Defra and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are working closely together to ensure that this balance is met.
The Government has introduced significant new funding for nature restoration to address climate change, but this does not detract from our biodiversity goals - the funding is additional and complementary. We prioritise funding for ecosystems that provide the greatest contribution to our emissions targets, following the underlying science. Our assessment is that, on land, restoring degraded peatlands and appropriately creating and managing multi-purpose woodlands will offer the greatest benefits for tackling climate change, while also contributing to biodiversity goals, addressing these challenges together. Our Nature for Climate Fund is therefore providing £640 million over the course of this Parliament for the creation, restoration and management of woodland and peatland habitats.
We have a range of funding streams that support conservation of other habitats and wider biodiversity goals. This includes agri-environment schemes and green recovery funds, where the contribution to biodiversity, as well as wider environmental outcomes, is used to prioritise funding.
Research suggests that, globally, nature based solutions could provide up to a third of the most cost-effective carbon mitigation, but despite that, only around 3% of international climate finance is invested in nature. We believe there is a need for a significant increase in support for nature based solutions, which is why we have put nature at the heart of our climate ambitions – domestically and internationally.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they prioritise measures to address issues relating to (1) climate change, and (2) biodiversity; whether more priority is given to one over the other; and if so, how they decide the differing level of priority.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The climate and biodiversity crises are linked, and this Government believes they have to be tackled together. Globally, climate change is the third biggest driver of biodiversity loss, while biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation further exacerbate climate change - releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere and reducing our ability to adapt to a changing climate.
As we develop our plans to deliver our world-leading net zero target at home, we will need to progress climate change and biodiversity objectives together. For example, we will need to balance land use change for mitigation purposes such as planting trees, with enhancing the natural environment and improving food security. Defra and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are working closely together to ensure that this balance is met.
The Government has introduced significant new funding for nature restoration to address climate change, but this does not detract from our biodiversity goals - the funding is additional and complementary. We prioritise funding for ecosystems that provide the greatest contribution to our emissions targets, following the underlying science. Our assessment is that, on land, restoring degraded peatlands and appropriately creating and managing multi-purpose woodlands will offer the greatest benefits for tackling climate change, while also contributing to biodiversity goals, addressing these challenges together. Our Nature for Climate Fund is therefore providing £640 million over the course of this Parliament for the creation, restoration and management of woodland and peatland habitats.
We have a range of funding streams that support conservation of other habitats and wider biodiversity goals. This includes agri-environment schemes and green recovery funds, where the contribution to biodiversity, as well as wider environmental outcomes, is used to prioritise funding.
Research suggests that, globally, nature based solutions could provide up to a third of the most cost-effective carbon mitigation, but despite that, only around 3% of international climate finance is invested in nature. We believe there is a need for a significant increase in support for nature based solutions, which is why we have put nature at the heart of our climate ambitions – domestically and internationally.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 3 December (HL10512), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what proposals they have (1) to encourage, or (2) to ensure that the environmental and other enhancements that will be included in Environmental Land Management Schemes will also take place on farmland where the owners and land managers have decided not to take part in such Schemes.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environmental Land Management scheme is being designed to be attractive to a wide range of farmers and land managers to deliver the environmental objectives of the scheme. To achieve this, we are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to design the scheme collaboratively. The scheme will operate alongside other policies and schemes to meet the Government’s objectives.
We want to attract high uptake and achieve environmental outcomes at scale and so are developing an attractive, simple, trusted and relevant offer across the full range of schemes. Our Agricultural Transition Plan, published on 30 November, sets out details on the schemes which we are running to do this, with the three components of Environmental Land Management at the heart of this. However, we will also offer environmental schemes which cover farming in protected landscapes, and tree health, as well as grants which will help farmers to improve their efficiency and productivity while also benefiting the environment.
Whether or not farmers and land managers decide not to participate in a scheme, they will still be subject to the minimum basic requirements set out in domestic legislation to safeguard the environment, plant health and animal health and welfare. This underpins the move to payments for public goods. We will work with the sector to co-design and establish a new regulatory model for the long term. However, we will ensure that we always have a robust system of inspection and enforcement in place to maintain regulatory protections throughout the agricultural transition.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the University of Sussex, Chipping Norton Veterinary Hospital, and the Environment Agency, Potential role of veterinary flea products in widespread pesticide contamination of English rivers, published on 7 November; and what steps they intend to take in response to that report.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has evaluated the report and while acknowledging the general findings, also recognises that no definitive conclusions can be drawn from it. The VMD works closely with the Environment Agency and was already aware of the monitoring data, which are pivotal to the publication.
The publication suggests that veterinary medicines may be contributing to the levels of parasiticides present in the UK waters. The paper under discussion only loosely acknowledges that there is a lack of understanding and data in key areas to ascertain if veterinary medicines are causing harm in the environment. Such areas include the need to assess how much of these compounds are bound and not in free form, and therefore unavailable to cause harm. These aspects need to be considered when evaluating the potential impact of these compounds on the aquatic environment and are not emphasised in the report. Importantly, the report also did not distinguish exposure routes of other potential sources of parasiticide (e.g. ant baits, use in greenhouses, historic agricultural use and products used to protect textiles), which may be significant. Much uncertainty remains, therefore, over the actual contribution from veterinary medicinal use.
Parasiticides are used in veterinary medicines for the treatment of fleas and ticks on companion animals. It is possible that following their use on dogs and cats, some parasiticides may reach the aquatic environment. The environmental exposure assessments conducted for such flea products, however, consider the exposure of the aquatic environment to be low.
Medicines containing imidacloprid and fipronil are accompanied by advice to users to keep treated animals out of watercourses for 2 to 4 days after treatment. If these measures are followed, it is expected that exposure to the environment should be negligible.
Due to concerns and uncertainties raised by previous research and monitoring data, the VMD commissioned research in 2019 to investigate the potential environmental exposure pathways for dog and cat flea and tick products, to assess the significance of the use of neonicotinoids (e.g. imidacloprid) and other parasiticides (e.g. fipronil) on the aquatic environment. This research is due to be completed in March 2023.
Pending the findings of this commissioned research, and other available evidence, currently we do not have any plans to change the existing regulatory controls on veterinary medicines, including the use of flea treatments for pets and the existing risk mitigation warnings, which protect animal health, human health and the environment.
Defra is committed to continuing to consider the evidence to inform any policy decisions or other interventions such as reinforcing the message not to wash animals for the period stipulated.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have (1) to encourage, or (2) to ensure that the environmental and other enhancements that will be included in Environmental Land Management Schemes will also take place on farmland where the owners and land managers have decided not to take part in such Schemes.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environmental Land Management scheme is being designed to be attractive to a wide range of farmers and land managers to deliver the environmental objectives of the scheme. To achieve this, we are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to design the scheme collaboratively. The scheme will operate alongside other policies to meet the Government’s objectives.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their new England Peat Strategy.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government is committed, through the forthcoming England Peat Strategy, to create and deliver a new ambitious framework for peat restoration in England. The Strategy will include protection measures which, along with restoration, will reverse the decline in our peat and deliver the full suite of benefits derived from these ecosystems, including carbon storage, a haven for rare wildlife, and water regulation and provision. The Strategy will be published soon.