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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to (a) incorporate marine ecosystems into the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and (b) ensure that (i) land and (ii) sea are integrated into the carbon capture strategy.

Defra is working in partnership with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Devolved Administrations – through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership – to address evidence gaps that currently prevent the inclusion of coastal and marine habitats in the Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Defra Group have funded five flux towers to provide important carbon emissions data for saltmarsh habitats. Alongside investment to deliver a roadmap setting out the steps needed for potential inclusion of saltmarsh in the Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Other marine habitats will be kept in consideration as the evidence base around them develops.

Defra is committed to developing nature-based solutions to climate change on both land and sea. As demonstrated by the inclusion of both saltmarsh and seagrass as habitats in our net zero pathway, alongside a commitment of over £400 million of support for tree planting and peatland restoration in the Autumn Budget.

Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) will be essential to meeting our climate commitments. CCUS is used for the deep decarbonisation of certain industries – such as cement and chemicals – which have no alternative to decarbonise. In developing its thinking the Government will consider options and implications for delivering CCUS on both land and sea.