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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy the potential merits of including the restoration of saltmarshes for blue carbon in the Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Nature-based solutions, including blue carbon habitats such as saltmarsh, have an important role to play in preventing biodiversity loss and supporting adaptation and resilience to climate change, alongside their carbon sequestration benefits. In the UK, there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting and therefore inclusion of emissions from coastal wetland habitats, including saltmarsh, into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon, including to support the potential future inclusion of saltmarsh within the inventory. The first aim of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community. The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.