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 plans to take to tackle global deforestation.

Defra supports action to prevent deforestation and address the drivers of deforestation through our £140 million contribution to the UK’s £3.87 billion International Climate Fund (ICF). Defra ICF investments include support for low-carbon agriculture and action to prevent deforestation in Brazil, and the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund. The ICF as a whole has committed over £500 million to forestry projects.

Defra also supports deforestation-free supply chains. For example, by implementing the EU Timber Regulation which prohibits the placing on the EU market of illegally harvested timber and timber products; through the UK’s Timber Procurement Policy, which requires central government departments and their agencies to source sustainable timber and wood-products; and by working with business towards achieving 100% sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil in the UK.