Wind Farms: Protected Peatland

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Alec. I congratulate the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) on securing this important debate.

Peatlands such as the Avalon marshes and the Somerset levels and moors are globally rare ecosystems. They make up less than 3% of Earth’s surface, yet they hold 30% of the world’s soil carbon. They have been described as the UK’s Amazon rainforest. They constitute 12% of our land area and play a critical role in mitigating climate change, supporting biodiversity and regulating water flow. They also support important habitats of rare fauna and flora, such as sphagnum mosses, roundleaf sundew, cottongrass and invertebrates such as the large marsh grasshopper, micro-plume moths and various damselflies and dragonflies. The peatlands of the Somerset levels and moors host breeding waders such as snipes and curlews, plus bitterns, adders and the recently reintroduced beavers. Somerset’s county emblem is a dragon rampant on a yellow background, so my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) can keep his Welsh dragon, which I understand inhabits the Radnor forest.

Given that the UK faces a nature crisis, with one in six species threatened with extinction from Britain, it is vital that adequate steps are taken to protect and restore such rare habitats. Yet successive Governments have kicked the can down the road and failed to take the necessary action, with the Office for Environmental Protection rebuking the previous Conservative Government for falling far short of the action needed to improve the environment. Part of creating the healthy natural environment that lies at the heart of the Liberal Democrat approach requires continued renewable and clean energy investment, such as wind farms. While we strongly believe that renewables are key to the energy production of a low-carbon future, priority habitats such as peatlands must be preserved and protected.

Worryingly, in the UK and around the world, peatlands are a net source of greenhouse emissions due to how they have been managed over the years. Over 80% of the UK’s peatlands have been damaged by past or present management. The Somerset levels consist of marine clay levels along the coast and inland peat-based moors. The peat dries out when peatlands are damaged, and when exposed to the elements, instead of storing and locking in carbon, it is emitted back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Restoring peatlands to health is absolutely vital so that they can continue to sequester carbon effectively. Once restored to a healthy and stable state where they can function naturally, peatlands will start to absorb carbon as they build up more peat, as well as providing an important natural flood defence.

I have long stated my concerns about the management of peatlands, and the development of wind farms on peatland risks further degrading these valuable habitats—negating any reduction in carbon emissions that would be produced by those wind farms. While previous research suggested that emissions could be reduced if strictly managed, more recent findings have found that wind farms on peatlands will not reduce carbon emissions, even with careful management.

Researchers have recommended that future policy should avoid constructing wind farms on undegraded peat. Environmental scientists from Nottingham Trent University have also warned of the need to better understand the impact of wind farms on peatlands, with evidence showing increased negative impacts on peatland hydrology, biodiversity, carbon storage and ground-level climatic conditions, and further cautioning that the carbon savings generated through wind energy may be negated by the emissions from the peatlands on which they are constructed.

I thank the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee for its recent inquiry on this exact issue. It highlighted the inconsistencies and weaknesses in a Government policy that, on the one hand, recognises the importance of peatlands, yet on the other refuses to take action to manage the increasing infrastructure demands on them. Current Government guidance states that onshore wind farm sites in England may be proposed on peatland. However, any application should rule out other locations before siting developments on peatland.

I want to be clear that investment in renewable energy is a must. It will make homes healthy and cheap to heat, and it will support green jobs and economic growth. Another consideration is whether the development of wind turbines on peatland undermines the green energy transition, and whether the carbon lost from degraded peat outweighs estimated savings from renewables. There is planning guidance and a carbon calculator to address the issue in Scotland, but why not in England? The Government have also stated that they will publish an equivalent to NatureScot’s guidance on peatland habitat management for England, but we need to know when that will be.

That leads me to a broader concern regarding the Government’s approach to protecting our peatlands. In December, DEFRA published an updated environmental improvement plan, which included a commitment to restore approximately 280,000 hectares of peatland in England by 2050. However, recent analysis indicates that we may be significantly off track to meet those targets, and the Climate Change Committee has called for the UK Government to prioritise ramping up peatland restoration. Currently, the Government plan to spend £85 million by 2030 on peatland restoration. Although that funding is welcome, we must question why we still allow peat extraction to continue.

Hon. and right hon. Members may be aware of my Horticultural Peat (Prohibition of Sale) Bill, which would finally implement the horticultural peat ban that was first promised by Government in 2022. This Government recently committed to end the sale of peat in England, but they have yet to take concrete steps to achieve that ambition. I urge Ministers to do their bit to ensure that such a ban is included in the forthcoming King’s Speech.

Somerset is one of only two counties in England where peat extraction still takes place, with a few extraction licences still in place until 2042. Despite the immense potential of peatlands as carbon sinks, shockingly, extraction and degraded peatlands contribute to 10% of all carbon emissions in Somerset. Beyond the climate benefits, healthy peatlands store and slow water flows, reducing flood risk and creating a rich mosaic of habitat that helps prevent wildfires. There have been yet more devastating floods this winter in areas such as Mudford, Langport, Thorney and Drayton in my constituency, so it is important that we utilise the unique ability of peatlands as natural flood defences. We know that the construction of wind farms on peatlands disrupts their hydrology, which can lead to peatland drying out and vicious cycles of erosion, potentially aggravating flooding in the settlements below.

Peatland extraction for horticulture poses exactly the same risks. For several years, horticultural businesses have been working towards a peat-free future, with Somerset-based businesses such as Durston Garden Products, based just outside Street, and RocketGro supporting a ban and producing peat-free compost. They took the previous Government at their word when they committed to ban the sale of peat, believing that it was the right thing to do for their businesses and for the environment.

We need a joined-up approach to peatland protection and restoration, which recognises that both extraction and the placement of unsuitable infrastructure on peatland undermine our net zero objectives. We must instead focus on win-win solutions through strategic and spatial planning that can deliver for society and nature. That is why the Liberal Democrats want to invest in renewable power, so that 90% of the UK’s electricity is generated from renewables by 2030. We believe that with carefully planned development, we can achieve those goals while avoiding significant harm to nature and actively furthering its recovery. Rather than stripping local authorities of local decision making, we would give them a key role to cut emissions in their own area, including more powers and funding.

It is time for the Government to end the uncertainty, to act now and to demonstrate real leadership by implementing a well thought-out policy for peatland protection and restoration.