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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of his policies in tackling global deforestation.

We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. Deforestation associated with UK consumption is estimated to have fallen by 55% since 2005, although progress has slowed over the last decade.

The Government recently published a Post-Implementation Review evaluating the effectiveness of the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR), which prohibits the placing of illegally harvested timber on the GB market. The review concluded that the regulation has been largely effective in reducing the risk of illegal timber entering the market and has contributed to tackling deforestation.

The Government will set out its approach to addressing UK consumption of forest risk commodities in due course. We are committed to ensuring that any regulatory framework is robust, proportionate and effective in addressing deforestation in UK supply chains.