Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the list of species the Department considers to be of conservation concern under the proposed legislation to ban imports of hunting trophies; and how the Department developed its criteria.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to delivering on its manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Defra is continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders to help determine the most appropriate scope for a ban. Species of conservation concern are listed primarily on Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) based on the level of threat that international trade poses to their conservation status.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to accept the recommendation of the Animal Welfare Committee's report entitled The welfare impacts on pigs of high concentration CO2 gas stunning and of potential alternative stunning methods, published on 16 October 2025, to prohibit the use of high concentration CO2 as a method of stunning for pigs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the response given on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 316.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the sale of unethical fur products.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fur farming is banned in the UK. Restrictions also apply to imports including fur and fur products from seals, cats and dogs. Other long-established controls include those covering fur from species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
On 26 March the Government published the Opinion on the responsible sourcing of fur by our expert Animal Welfare Committee and will carefully consider its findings. The Government has also published the summary of responses to the call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain, which was held under the previous government in 2021 jointly with the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Building on this, the Government will now bring together a working group on fur, with involvement from both industry experts and those who support restrictions on the trade in fur, to explore concerns and the different ways in which they could be addressed.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of exemptions permitting the use of birds of prey in fox hunting activities; and whether it plans to review those provisions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department has made no assessment of the effectiveness of exemptions permitting the use of birds of prey in fox hunting activities and has no plans to review those provisions.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
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 plans to publish an (a) Green Paper and (b) public consultation on access to nature; and what steps he has taken to improve people's access to nature.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are currently developing policy to improve access to nature, working closely with other Government departments and key stakeholders, and further information will be available in due course. In addition, we are already delivering key initiatives aimed at improving people’s access to nature, including:
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the UK's carbon footprint including emissions from imported goods is since 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information about the Carbon footprint for the UK is published here : Carbon footprint for the UK and England to 2021 - GOV.UK
Data are available up to 2021.
The total carbon footprint now includes the seven main Greenhouse Gases comprising: CO2, Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydro-flourocarbons (HFC), Perflurocarbons (PFC), Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
We do not hold information on total UK emissions but can provide those associated with consumption. UK consumption emission figures, including those from imported goods, are provided in the table below.
Table 1: Greenhouse gas emissions associated with UK consumption, million tonnes CO2 equivalent, UK, 2010-2021
Year | GHG from UK produced goods and services consumed by UK residents | GHG embedded in imported goods and services to UK | UK Households heating emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels | UK Transport emissions generated directly by UK households | Total |
2010 | 310 | 336 | 91 | 66 | 804 |
2011 | 292 | 347 | 74 | 66 | 778 |
2012 | 305 | 360 | 80 | 66 | 811 |
2013 | 295 | 358 | 82 | 67 | 801 |
2014 | 283 | 366 | 69 | 67 | 784 |
2015 | 275 | 362 | 72 | 68 | 777 |
2016 | 236 | 320 | 73 | 69 | 698 |
2017 | 211 | 321 | 71 | 70 | 673 |
2018 | 213 | 342 | 74 | 70 | 699 |
2019 | 208 | 336 | 71 | 70 | 685 |
2020 | 176 | 311 | 71 | 54 | 613 |
2021 | 189 | 381 | 76 | 59 | 705 |