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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support communities worst hit by the impacts of climate change such as flooding and biodiversity loss.

Climate change is already with us, and further changes are expected in the coming decades, despite ambitious commitments from the UK and the global community to cut carbon emissions. Building the resilience of our society, economy and environment to the impacts of climate change is therefore a priority for government, on land and at sea.

Between 2015 and 2021 government invested £2.6 billion to better protect 314,000 homes from flooding. In July 2020, Defra published its floods Policy Statement, setting out the Government’s long-term ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.

Starting from 2021, the Government will invest £5.2 billion in a six-year capital investment programme for flood and coastal erosion risk management to build over 2,000 new flood defences. This investment will better protect 336,000 properties, including 290,000 homes, from flooding and coastal erosion by 2027.

In addition, up to £170 million will be spent to accelerate work on 22 shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction before the end of 2021/2022, which will provide an immediate boost to jobs supporting local economies as communities recover from the impact of coronavirus.

An additional £200 million will be invested in the Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. This will help over 25 local areas over six years to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.

In England, we are establishing a Nature Recovery Network. As part of the Network, we are taking steps to bring 75% of protected sites by area into favourable condition, and to create or restore 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites. Restoring and expanding habitats is good for wildlife, but nature recovery also provides wider environmental benefits, from clean air to recreation to tackling climate change.

Such restoration will be hugely beneficial in helping to support the resilience of ecosystems themselves to climate change. For example, improving the condition and diversity within, and connectivity between, our wildlife habitats will help species survive in their existing locations, and allow them to move towards more suitable climates where necessary.

The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT), has recently worked with Defra's Local Adaptation Advisory Panel, to publish adaptation guidance for local authorities. This good practice guide outlines practical steps for local authorities to enhance local resilience. ADEPT has also published its blueprint to accelerating resilience to climate change risks and green recovery at the local level.

The UK is at the forefront of marine protection with 372 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) protecting 38% of UK waters. We have built a comprehensive network of MPAs and are focusing on making sure they are protected properly.

In June the Government published its response to the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMA). The government will designate a number of sites in 2022. JNCC and Natural England, along with Cefas, have developed and published ecological criteria based on the principles outlined in the Benyon Review to start selecting potential HPMA locations.

A number of estuarine and coastal habitat restoration initiatives to benefit people and nature are underway, including the Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef initiative. Natural England is also leading the EU-funded LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES project, which aims to restore seagrass and maerl habitat in five Special Areas of Conservation.

Marine nature-based solutions, including the protection and restoration of blue carbon habitats, will contribute towards achieving the government’s vision for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse ocean and seas’ and our climate change objectives. The UK Marine Strategy provides the framework for monitoring, assessing and taking measures to achieve and maintain Good Environmental Status in our seas.