Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring quantitative assessments under the adaptation reporting power in the Climate Change Act 2008.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government consultation on proposals for the fourth round of climate adaptation reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power closed 5th April. It included consideration of guidance to support reporting organisations and whether to make reporting voluntary or mandatory. A summary of consultation responses will be available on gov.uk shortly. Consultation feedback will inform the final strategy, to be published alongside the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what delivery mechanisms she plans to include within the National Adaptation Programme to ensure that climate adaptation commitments are adopted across Government departments.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) report will mark the beginning of a five-year implementation period. The report will include a clear set of objectives for adaptation, with policies and accompanying delivery mechanisms to meet those objectives. Progress indicators, aligned to risks and opportunities set out in our third Climate Change Risk Assessment will also be developed as part of the NAP programme and will help the programme have a more targeted and effective approach to monitoring. In addition, programme governance will include monitoring of actions and reporting as required.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Adaptation Programme will be updated to include new government funding commitments for investment in adaptation over the next five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) will be published in summer 2023 and will update on the Government’s planned actions to address risks and opportunities set out in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. Adaptation is ‘mainstreamed’ across Government, which means that all Government spending should account for the risks posed by the impacts of climate change.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps through the national adaptation programme to increase the level of (a) guidance and (b) support for private sector organisations on the use of nature-based solutions to climate change.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) will set out the whole of the Government’s planned actions to address the risks and opportunities set out in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment and will include nature-based solutions as part of the response to a range of risks. Separately, the Government is taking a range of actions to support the uptake of nature-based solutions across the public and private sector through the Green Infrastructure Framework. This sets out clear national standards providing a consistent way to assess the need for, design and delivery of good green infrastructure which supports adaptation to the effects of climate change.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason closed loop recycling systems are not being recognised until 2025 for those manufacturers who have already put in place sustainable processes; and for what reason closed loop recycling incentives will not include meal trays.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR), producers who collect and recycle consumer packaging waste at their own cost, where it is not commonly collected by local authorities for recycling, will be able to reduce their obligation to pay fees to cover the costs of managing household packaging from 2024. This is intended to support our transition to higher recycling rates as we invest in improved collection, sorting and recycling systems for hard to recycle packaging, or transition to using packaging that is already widely recyclable. Packaging that is already commonly collected from households will not be eligible for this offset as this would reduce the efficiency of household collections and increase the risk of fraud, except where it is part of an established re-use system where the same item of packaging is collected, cleaned and re-used multiple times before being recycled. This will provide an added incentive for producers to move to systems of re-useable packaging.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring quantitative assessments under the adaptation reporting power in the Climate Change Act 2008.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is consulting on proposals for the fourth round of climate adaptation reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power. This includes consideration of guidance to support reporting organisations and whether to make reporting voluntary or mandatory. The consultation closes on 5th April and can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/climate-change-adaptation-reporting-power-plans-for-the-fourth-round. Consultation feedback will inform the final strategy, to be published alongside the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 meet target one of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Target 1 of the Global Biodiversity Framework seeks to address land and sea use change by ensuring that all areas are under biodiversity inclusive spatial planning and other effective management processes. In England we are already taking steps to address this; for example:
- Under the Environment Act 2021 we are introducing a mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain requirement for new development along with Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) to target the best places for nature recovery and wider environmental benefits.
- The Government is reforming the planning system through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will consult on how to use changes under the Bill to improve environmental outcomes and embed reforms under the Environment Act.
- Environmental improvement will be fully reflected in the review of the National Planning Policy Framework in 2023.
- The new system of Environmental Outcomes Reports under the Bill will be aligned to the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 and ensure that decision makers know how far a plan or project contributes to Environmental Targets.
- The Environment Act 2021 strengthened the duty on all public authorities so that they must consider what action they can take, consistent with their functions, to conserve and enhance biodiversity, and then take that action. In so doing, they must have regard to LNRSs. Local Authorities and Local Planning Authorities must also publish Biodiversity Reports providing information on action taken, and plans for future action, for biodiversity.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of public opinion on introducing a ban on foie gras.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. The production of foie gras feeding is incompatible with our domestic animal welfare legislation.
We are committed to building a clear evidence base to inform any potential future decisions relating to foie gras imports and sales.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her international counterparts on taking steps to meet target two and three of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Since its adoption, the UK has engaged a range of Parties at Ministerial level regarding implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework and its targets. This includes discussions held by the Secretary of State with the USA during her visit in February, with multiple Parties at the Our Ocean Conference in Panama, and most recently with France at the 36th France-UK Summit. Similar engagement has also been undertaken by Lord Benyon with counterparts in the margins of IMPAC5 (5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress), and by Lord Goldsmith at the One Forest Summit in Gabon.
In addition, the UK is taking a leading role in promoting and supporting specific action implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (including the 30by30 target), through our role as Chair of the Global Ocean Alliance and Ocean Co-chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Nature for Climate Fund has been spent; and on which projects.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
There is over £650 million available through the Nature for Climate Fund (NCF) to support tree planting, woodland creation and management until 2025.
For 2022/23 alone we have made available:
Over £14 million is available through the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and Urban Tree Challenge Fund which allow both local authorities and community groups to access funds for new tree-planting projects. These have just reopened and we would encourage local authorities and community groups to apply and support tree planting in their local areas.
The NCF is already providing over £33 million to restore 20,000 hectares of peatlands, with a further bidding round in 2023.The NCF Discovery Grant has also awarded over £5 million to 15 projects across England, stretching from Dorset to Northumberland, enabling the foundation work needed to prepare for the restoration of over 51,000 ha of peatland.