Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to introduce a global goal for tree planting and protection at COP 26 in late 2020.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers the Prime Minister gave on 5 February (Official Report Volume 671 col 306-314).

The UK will be encouraging all countries to submit increased Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP26. As part of this the UK will come forward with an enhanced NDC.

HM Government provides support in a number of ways to the development of new NDCs, including through our International Climate Finance Programme (IFCP), for which the Prime Minister has announced a doubling of support to £11.6 billion for the period 2021/22-2025/26. The IFCP also supports UK aid projects, including the protection and restoration of forests.

Discussions with delivery partners regarding costs for COP26 are ongoing, and final budgets are yet to be confirmed.

Further details will be announced in due course.