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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to recommendation 13 in the Fifth Special Report of the Environmental Audit Committee of Session 2023-24 entitled The UK’s contribution to tackling global deforestation: Government Response to the Committee’s Fourth Report, HC 669, what steps he has taken to ensure that the statutory evaluation of the Schedule 17 due diligence system addresses whether the due diligence system has effectively supported the human rights of indigenous peoples to land, territories and resources.

We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.