Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of climate change on UK coffee supply chains.

The Climate Change Committee’s Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk, published in 2021, offers a detailed and up to date insight into the growing risks and opportunities the UK faces from climate change, including risks to food supply chains. This informed our third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), which was laid in Parliament in January 2022.

Defra is working to develop a third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) that addresses all 61 risks and opportunities identified in CCRA3. This is due for publication in the summer of 2023. For the first time, the NAP3 will include dedicated responses to the 10 climate risks and opportunities facing the UK from climate impacts overseas, including risks to UK food availability, safety, and quality from climate change overseas.

The risks to food production from climate change are particularly high for crops with few varieties, such as arabica coffee. The UK Government has signed the 2022 International Coffee Agreement which champions the global coffee industry, and the UK will help continue its drive for new standards of sustainability for our coffee. This agreement addresses, where appropriate through research, the challenges facing the global coffee sector, including climate change.