Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism within the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on the UK’s climate ambitions, including the aim of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Government is clear that where we negotiate investment protection and ISDS provisions, we will maintain our right to regulate in the public interest, including in areas such as the environment.

CPTPP protects the rights of members to regulate for their own levels of environmental protection to achieve their ambitious net zero goals and contains commitments to protect the environment.

To meet our ambitions on climate change and the environment, the Government is committed to protecting its right to regulate in the public interest. Our independent investment policy will continue to protect this right.