Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to invest in climate change preparedness to protect communities from adverse effects of climate change.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Adaptation is a challenge for the whole of society, and is fundamentally place-based. Local authorities and communities have a critical role to play in developing community resilience. The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) in conjunction with Defra's Local Adaptation Advisory Panel, has published adaptation guidance for all 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.
In addition, the Cabinet Office provides Local Resilience Forums with the National Security Risk Assessment and Local Risk Management Guidance to support their work to develop effective local resilience plans and fulfil their statutory duty to conduct local risk assessments.
Defra has made significant progress to protect communities from future flooding and coastal erosion. Last year, the Government published its long-term Policy Statement which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. The Policy Statement includes five policies and over 40 supporting actions which will accelerate progress to better protect and better prepare the country against flooding and coastal erosion in the face of more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change.
The Government is making record investment in flood and coastal defences. We have doubled the amount invested in the flood and coastal defence programme in England to £5.2 billion over the next 6 years. This will fund around 2,000 new defence schemes to better protect 336,000 properties.
At the March 2020 Budget, the Government announced a £200 million 'place-based resilience programme', which will run for 6 years from 2021. This will help to inform future approaches to prepare communities for flooding and coastal erosion across the country. Funding will help around 25 local areas to take forward wider innovative actions that improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion including natural flood management, property flood resilience and community engagement.
The Government published its latest National Adaptation Programme in 2018, and will publish the next one in 2023, building on this year's advice and evidence from the independent Climate Change Committee. As well as the Defra policies I have mentioned, the Government's programme contains actions from all relevant Government departments and sectors of the economy. For example, MHCLG's Future Buildings Standard consultation recently proposed a new regulation to prevent the health risks of overheating in new buildings. And DHSC is establishing a climate resilience working group to drive adaptation and health protection actions across the health sector.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling the use of catchment approaches and nature-based solutions by water companies in delivering their regulated obligations in the forthcoming Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is consulting on a draft strategic policy statement for Ofwat. This will set priorities for the economic regulator in the following areas:
The consultation for the strategic policy statement can be accessed via the link here:
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating Ofwat to incentivise long-term outcomes on (a) net-zero and (b) the delivery of the 25 Year Environment Plan through the forthcoming strategic policy statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is consulting on a draft strategic policy statement for Ofwat. This will set priorities for the economic regulator in the following areas:
The consultation for the strategic policy statement can be accessed via the link here:
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reconcile (a) low average bills, (b) the need to support vulnerable customers and (c) other short-term deliverables in the water industry with long-term investment needs to deliver on net-zero commitments and environmental objectives.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, is responsible for ensuring that water companies charge fair prices and deliver quality services, through a process called the Price Review.
(b) All water companies offer reduced bills for eligible customers via the WaterSure scheme and social tariffs. Water companies also offer a range of other financial support measures such as payment holidays, bill matching and advice on debt management and water efficiency. Last October, Defra commissioned the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) to review the effectiveness of existing support schemes in water to ensure they are fit for purpose now and in the future. Defra is working with CCW and industry to explore CCW’s recommendations (see Independent Affordability Review | CCW (ccwater.org.uk)) further.
(c) As part of Ofwat's 2019 Price Review process, water companies have set out their investment needs and associated costs up to 2024/2025. The Government has set its future expectations for Ofwat in a new strategic policy statement ( The government's strategic priorities for Ofwat: draft for consultation (defra.gov.uk)) which sets out the significant Government ambitions on the environment and climate change, and how the water industry should contribute to that work.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2021 to Question 6348 on Technology: Environment Protection, how much money was allocated from the Industrial Strategy Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to the low carbon fund.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The £166 million funding for green technology refers to several initiatives run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) is one of these.
The 2018 Budget announced £315 million to help high energy users in industry to cut their energy bills and carbon emissions. BEIS delivers £289 million through the IETF in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while the Scottish Government has put its £26 million share towards a Scottish equivalent. This funding is available through several competition windows. Guidance on how to apply in IETF Phase 1 is available online, while details of future rounds will be published later this year. There have been no transfers of money between the £289m IETF and other funds.
The £16.5 million announced in May 2021 refers to the first winners from the Phase 1: Summer 2020 competition of the IETF. These 14 projects will help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions at industrial sites. A second tranche of winners from this competition will be announced later this year, once projects are ready to start. Headline results from this competition had been announced in January 2021, but the company names and details of their projects are newly released.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release of the 6th carbon budget, UK enshrines new target in law to slash emissions by 78% by 2035, published on 20 April 2021, for what reasons the Government does not plan to implement the advice of the Committee on Climate Change for low-cost, low-regret actions for a 20 per cent shift away from meat and dairy products by 2030 as part of the balanced net zero pathway as part of its policy position on diet change; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions made by the livestock and dairy sectors. In 2019 - the most recent year for which emissions data is available - livestock emissions represented 60% of agricultural emissions (27.9Mt CO2e). Evidence shows that plant-based food products are generally less carbon intensive to produce than livestock products. While food choices and improved farming practices have an impact on these emissions, well-managed livestock can also provide environmental benefits such as contributing to protection of soil carbon in existing pastures, supporting biodiversity, protecting the character of the countryside and creating employment for rural communities. We recognise the delicate balance between these outcomes and the potential environmental trade-offs, and will ensure decision-making is evidence led.
Achieving the net zero target is a priority for the Government, and we are developing a range of measures through the Agriculture Act, our future farming policy, our forthcoming Food Strategy White Paper and the 25 Year Environment Plan, all with the aim of enabling farmers to optimise sustainable food production, reduce emissions from agriculture and allow consumer choices to drive those changes.
Part Two of Henry Dimbleby’s independent review of the food system will be published in July 2021. It will include a root and branch examination of the food system as it is today and the forces that shape it. The Government has committed to responding to the Review’s recommendations in the form of a Food Strategy White Paper within six months of the release of the final report. The Government is committed to developing a food strategy that will support the development of a food system that is sustainable, resilient and affordable, that will support people to live healthy lives, and that will protect animal health and welfare.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s latest assessment is of the role of dietary change in contributing to (a) the objectives of the UN food systems summit and (b) the UK's policy goals on (i) public health, (ii) biodiversity protection, (iii) climate and (iv) animal welfare.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) presents an excellent opportunity to showcase the UK's thought leadership on food systems and serves as a valuable platform to exert our influence internationally. Defra and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) are working closely to ensure that the UK makes a valuable contribution on all aspects of the food system, including diets.
The Government fully supports consumer choice. Our priority is to support British farming and encourage sustainable food production to ensure we have a secure, environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food with improved standards of animal welfare. The Government's obesity strategy is designed to reshape the food environment by providing people with a healthier choice and encouraging them to take it.
We recognise the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions made by agricultural sectors. Evidence shows that plant-based food products are generally less carbon intensive to produce than livestock products. However, while food choices can have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, well managed livestock also provide environmental benefits such as supporting biodiversity and protecting the character of the countryside.
The Independent Review of the food system being led by Henry Dimbleby will help the Government to further understand how dietary changes can deliver public policy goals on health and sustainability.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of peatland (a) restoration and (b) management for helping to (i) abate greenhouse gas emissions, (ii) manage fuel loads and (iii) deliver conservation outcomes on deep peat; and what steps he is taking to ensure that learning from (A) scientific research on and (B) practitioner management of peat informs the restoration and protection of blanket bog.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restored peatland achieves a variety of natural capital objectives, including carbon sequestration, water regulation and quality, optimising biodiversity, preserving archaeology, and minimising wildfire hazards. We are committed to restoring and sustainably managing England’s peatlands. The Chancellor announced in March that as part of the Nature for Climate Fund, 35,000ha of peatland restoration would be achieved over the next five years. This represents a significant step forward in our restoration efforts and will require us to work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including landowners and land management representative organisations.
We continue to monitor all aspects of scientific research on the impacts of burning on blanket bog habitat. The balance of evidence remains that burning on blanket bog is detrimental as it moves the bog away from its original wet state and risks vulnerable peat bogs becoming converted to drier, heathland habitat. That is why we are taking action to prevent further damage by bringing forward legislation that will limit burning of vegetation on protected deep peat.
The Government will be setting out further measures to restore, protect and manage England’s peatlands this year as part of a package of measures to protect England’s landscapes and nature-based solutions.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect oceans as part of work to tackle the climate emergency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The work carried out by Surfers Against Sewage on their Ocean & Climate Report provides a timely reminder of the urgent need to reduce emissions and the importance of nature-based solutions in our response to climate change and biodiversity loss.
The most effective thing we can do to reduce the impacts of climate change on the ocean is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK government has therefore set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Internationally, 2021 is a critical year for the ocean, climate and nature. We are committed to working closely with our partners to drive a recognition of the linkages between the ocean, climate and biodiversity. We will use our COP26 Presidency to secure ambitious emission reductions and drive action on the Leaders' Pledge for Nature commitments, recognising the role of nature-based solutions in building resilience and adapting to the impacts of climate change, as well as supporting mitigation.
At the recent One Planet Summit, the UK accepted the position as Ocean Co-Chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and between this and the UK-led Global Ocean Alliance we now have over 60 countries supporting a target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 as part of our aim for an ambitious and transformational post-2020 global biodiversity framework for adoption at the 15th Conference of Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15).
Together with Vanuatu, the UK Government is driving forward ambitious action to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean through the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance (CCOA), a growing group of 34 Commonwealth member states. To support the ambitions of CCOA, the UK Government has committed up to £70 million to boost global research and support developing countries to stop plastic waste from entering the ocean in the first place. Through one of our UK Aid programmes, the Global Plastic Action Partnership, the UK is working in partnership with Indonesia, Ghana, Vietnam and Nigeria to stem the tide of plastics entering in the ocean.
The UK has also committed to launch a £500m Blue Planet Fund, financed from official development assistance (ODA), to protect the ocean and reduce poverty in developing countries.
In November 2020 the UK announced its support to start negotiations on a new global agreement at the United Nations Environment Assembly that will create the system change required to tackle increasing levels of marine plastic litter and microplastics.
The UK is also taking action domestically to avoid further irreversible impacts to the ocean from climate change and biodiversity loss.
The protection, restoration and management of the marine environment are central to objectives in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the UK Marine Strategy on clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse seas that are managed sustainably. We already have 38% of UK waters in Marine Protected Areas and our focus is ensuring these are effectively protected.
We have stated our intention to pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas in Secretary of State waters and we look forward to publishing the Government's response to Richard Benyon's review in due course.
The Fisheries Act 2020 protects our marine environment and develops plans to restore our fish stocks back to more sustainable levels.
As part of our commitment to ocean recovery we are supporting coastal and estuarine restoration projects, including blue carbon habitats. The £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund will help environmental organisations start work now on restoration projects across England, including the inshore marine environment.
Our new Storm Overflows Taskforce is bringing together government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs to work urgently on options to tackle sewage pollution issues.
As announced on 22 January, and welcomed by Surfers Against Sewage, this Taskforce has agreed a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.
Water companies have also agreed to make real-time data on sewage discharges available at bathing sites all year round. This data will be made available to help surfers, swimmers and other recreational water users to check the latest information and make informed choices on where to swim.
We recognise there is more that needs to be done beyond providing more and better information, and so we will continue to work with the industry to reduce frequency and harm of discharges from storm overflows.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the January 2021 Surfers Against Sewage, Ocean & Climate Report; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The work carried out by Surfers Against Sewage on their Ocean & Climate Report provides a timely reminder of the urgent need to reduce emissions and the importance of nature-based solutions in our response to climate change and biodiversity loss.
The most effective thing we can do to reduce the impacts of climate change on the ocean is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK government has therefore set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Internationally, 2021 is a critical year for the ocean, climate and nature. We are committed to working closely with our partners to drive a recognition of the linkages between the ocean, climate and biodiversity. We will use our COP26 Presidency to secure ambitious emission reductions and drive action on the Leaders' Pledge for Nature commitments, recognising the role of nature-based solutions in building resilience and adapting to the impacts of climate change, as well as supporting mitigation.
At the recent One Planet Summit, the UK accepted the position as Ocean Co-Chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and between this and the UK-led Global Ocean Alliance we now have over 60 countries supporting a target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 as part of our aim for an ambitious and transformational post-2020 global biodiversity framework for adoption at the 15th Conference of Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15).
Together with Vanuatu, the UK Government is driving forward ambitious action to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean through the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance (CCOA), a growing group of 34 Commonwealth member states. To support the ambitions of CCOA, the UK Government has committed up to £70 million to boost global research and support developing countries to stop plastic waste from entering the ocean in the first place. Through one of our UK Aid programmes, the Global Plastic Action Partnership, the UK is working in partnership with Indonesia, Ghana, Vietnam and Nigeria to stem the tide of plastics entering in the ocean.
The UK has also committed to launch a £500m Blue Planet Fund, financed from official development assistance (ODA), to protect the ocean and reduce poverty in developing countries.
In November 2020 the UK announced its support to start negotiations on a new global agreement at the United Nations Environment Assembly that will create the system change required to tackle increasing levels of marine plastic litter and microplastics.
The UK is also taking action domestically to avoid further irreversible impacts to the ocean from climate change and biodiversity loss.
The protection, restoration and management of the marine environment are central to objectives in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the UK Marine Strategy on clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse seas that are managed sustainably. We already have 38% of UK waters in Marine Protected Areas and our focus is ensuring these are effectively protected.
We have stated our intention to pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas in Secretary of State waters and we look forward to publishing the Government's response to Richard Benyon's review in due course.
The Fisheries Act 2020 protects our marine environment and develops plans to restore our fish stocks back to more sustainable levels.
As part of our commitment to ocean recovery we are supporting coastal and estuarine restoration projects, including blue carbon habitats. The £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund will help environmental organisations start work now on restoration projects across England, including the inshore marine environment.
Our new Storm Overflows Taskforce is bringing together government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs to work urgently on options to tackle sewage pollution issues.
As announced on 22 January, and welcomed by Surfers Against Sewage, this Taskforce has agreed a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.
Water companies have also agreed to make real-time data on sewage discharges available at bathing sites all year round. This data will be made available to help surfers, swimmers and other recreational water users to check the latest information and make informed choices on where to swim.
We recognise there is more that needs to be done beyond providing more and better information, and so we will continue to work with the industry to reduce frequency and harm of discharges from storm overflows.