Peat: Carbon Emissions

(asked on 22nd April 2021) - View Source

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

What assessment he has made of the effect of the commercial extraction of peat compost on the Government's ability to meet its net zero carbon target.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 22nd April 2021

We are committed to ending the use of peat in horticulture in England and achieving our net zero target. In early February 2021, we held roundtables for groups of stakeholders to discuss potential measures to end the use of horticultural peat. We intend to publish a formal consultation in 2021 on further measures to end its use.

In 2019, peat extraction accounted for an estimated 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in the UK, or 0.5% of the UK’s total. For England, the figure is 0.2 million tonnes. All peat extraction in England will cease by 2042 at the latest, in advance of the UK’s target to be net zero by 2050.

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