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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their net-zero policies do not undermine (1) farming, and (2) biodiversity.

This Government is committed to delivering net zero by 2050 and will work with farmers and others with a stake in our food system towards this. The transition to more climate-friendly practices will work hand in hand with food security and farm productivity.

We are supporting farmers to adopt low carbon farming practices, increasing the carbon stored on their land while boosting profitability. These practices can also free up land for nature-based solutions like afforestation and improve farm efficiency and diversification opportunities on low-grade land. We will closely examine how to enable innovation benefits in reaching net zero whilst considering new technologies and best practices for farming.

We are committed to continuing the rollout of Environmental Land Management schemes, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which are key in protecting farming and delivering our net zero targets, with co-benefits for biodiversity and climate adaptation. We will introduce a land-use framework, helping to protect both the environment, food security and livelihoods.

Climate and nature are intrinsically linked. Defra has a vital role to play in helping deliver carbon budgets and ensuring nature-based solutions are a core part of tackling climate change and averting its impacts. Nature-based solutions deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people.