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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Oral Statement of 12 June 2019, Official Report, column 661, what reafforestation programme the Government plans to adopt to reach net zero by 2050; and whether that programme will implement the recommendation of the Committee for Climate Change on planting 30,000 hectares of trees each year.

On 12 June, the UK announced that we will end our contribution to the most serious environmental challenge we face - climate change, by legislating the introduction of a net zero emission target for 2050, following the Committee on Climate Change’s advice. We are one of the first major economies in the world to legislate for a net zero target. Meeting this target will require us to build on the progress already made, by further reducing emissions across all sectors of the economy.

Forests are vital in the fight against climate change and we are determined to grow woodland cover. The Government is delivering on a range of afforestation commitments including contributing £5.7M to kick start planting in the Northern Forest, £10 million for trees in towns and cities through the Urban Tree Challenge Fund and £50 million for new woodland through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee. There is now guidance to ensure better recognition of the wider natural capital benefits that trees can provide and we have just reappointed our Tree Champion for a further year to continue to lead engagement on a new England tree strategy, which we will consult on later this year.

The Committee for Climate Change’s recent report recognises the work we have done to lay the foundations to build a net zero economy. The Committee’s indicative recommendations on tree planting are ambitious, and we know we need to go further and faster to plant more trees.