Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the UK Overseas Territories to UK climate change commitments.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Overseas Territories are custodians of internationally important habitats and species. As small island and coastal communities, climate change and biodiversity loss will have a profound impact upon them. The UK and Overseas Territories have a proud history of taking ambitious action on the environment, as demonstrated by the world-leading Blue Belt programme. Working with the Overseas Territories, we have successfully protected 60% of UK waters, which includes 4.3 million square kilometres of protection around the Overseas Territories. Building on this success in 2019, the UK launched the Global Ocean Alliance, calling for at least 30% of the global ocean to be protected by 2030.
At the recent Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council, territory leaders pledged to work with the UK to secure an ambitious agreement to tackle climate change at COP26. By the time of the Summit, each territory government will have endeavoured to communicate their plan for climate change adaptation and mitigation, which will contribute towards global carbon emission reductions. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy plans to consult with the territories on the extension of the Paris Agreement and the UK's Nationally Determined Contribution to cover their emissions.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the The State of the Planet address by the United Nations Secretary-General at Columbia University on 2 December.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Secretary General's speech was the latest of a number of clarion calls he has made for action to address the biodiversity and climate change crises we face today.
The Government shares the Secretary General's concern. That is why the UK helped drive discussions to deliver the Leaders' Pledge for Nature, which was signed by 77 countries (including the UK) at the UN General Assembly in September, setting out urgent actions to tackle the international biodiversity and climate crises. In addition, as the Secretary General highlighted, the UK has already put in place commitments to deliver on many of his imperatives domestically. These include our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 and the replacement of existing area based agricultural payments so that farmers will in future be paid for work that enhances the environment, such as tree or hedge planting, river management to mitigate flooding, or creating or restoring habitats for wildlife.
The need for a green and resilient recovery from the current pandemic is something which the UK is firmly committed to and the ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution, which we published in November, will be central to delivering that. Whether in terms of delivering more renewable energy and lower emissions or additional protection of our natural environment, our plan will deliver on many of the Secretary General's calls and demonstrates UK leadership in doing so.
As the Secretary General outlined, 2020 was meant to be a "super year" for both biodiversity and the climate. That focus has now shifted to next year and we are committed to using the opportunities provided by our G7 Presidency and our Presidency of the UNFCCC CoP26, as well as opportunities provided by the CBD CoP 15, the UN Food Systems Summit and the UN Decade of Ecosystem restoration which will be launched in 2021, to demonstrate UK leadership and to drive global actions, not just words to address the crises.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they voted to support amendments to International Maritime Organisation rules in relation to limiting the carbon intensity of ships; and what assessment they made, if any, of the potential impact on the climate of these amendments before casting their vote.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMG is committed to working through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce and ultimately phase out greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The measure agreed at the recent Marine Environment Protection Committee represents a compromise for short-term carbon intensity improvements and provides a framework upon which we can continue to build in the coming years. This is the first step of many under the Initial IMO Strategy to decarbonise international shipping. HMG will be working closely with other Member States and the IMO to develop robust medium- and long-term measures.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to include carbon emissions from imports and exports in UK carbon budgets.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Measuring emissions associated with the production of goods and services consumed by the UK provides valuable insights, particularly in relation to policy on resource efficiency, and helpfully supplements the measurement of emissions generated within the UK’s borders. However, we do not plan to move to a system primarily based on consumption emissions as there is no internationally agreed approach to measuring these emissions. Estimates of imported emissions are associated with greater levels of uncertainty than estimates of UK-based territorial emissions.
The UK is at the forefront of measuring consumption emissions and developing policies to reduce them. Emissions on a consumption basis (including embedded in imports) fell by 21 per cent between 2007 and 2017. In addition, we believe that high standards of climate protection should be at the heart of global production and trade, and are committed to upholding our environmental standards and supporting global decarbonisation accordingly.
We constantly keep our policies under review. For example, the Government's Resources and Waste Strategy for England sets out its ambition to move from a make, take, use, throw linear economic model to a more circular economy which will reduce our carbon footprint from imported emissions through increasing repair, reuse, remanufacture and other waste prevention activities.
The Environment Bill includes measures that will help consumers to make purchasing decisions that support the market for more sustainable products. It contains powers to introduce clear product labelling, which will enable consumers to identify products that are more durable, reparable and recyclable and will inform them on how to dispose of used products.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether emissions from goods produced abroad that are consumed within the UK will be included in the UK's net zero carbon emissions target.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Measuring emissions associated with the production of goods and services consumed by the UK provides valuable insights, particularly in relation to policy on resource efficiency, and helpfully supplements the measurement of emissions generated within the UK’s borders. However, we do not plan to move to a system?primarily?based on?consumption?emissions as there is no internationally agreed approach to measuring these emissions. Estimates of imported emissions are associated with greater levels of uncertainty than estimates of UK-based territorial emissions.
The UK is at the forefront of measuring consumption emissions and developing policies to reduce them. Emissions on a consumption basis (including embedded in imports) fell by 21 per cent between 2007 and 2017. In addition, we believe that high standards of climate protection should be at the heart of global production and trade, and are committed to upholding our environmental standards and supporting global decarbonisation accordingly.
We constantly keep our policies under review. For example, the Government's Resources and Waste Strategy for England sets out its ambition to move from a make, take, use, throw linear economic model to a more circular economy which will reduce our carbon footprint from imported emissions through increasing repair, reuse, remanufacture and other waste prevention activities.
The Environment Bill includes measures that will help consumers to make purchasing decisions that support the market for more sustainable products. It contains powers to introduce clear product labelling, which will enable consumers to identify products that are more durable, reparable and recyclable and will inform them on how to dispose of used products.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs which could be created for the purpose of undertaking (a) environmentally efficient retrofitting of homes and (b) the construction of low-carbon homes in the next five years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
It is estimated that the UK low-carbon economy could grow more than four times faster than the rest of the economy between 2015 and 2030 and support up to 2 million jobs. As set out in the 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution, the Government is investing £1 billion to make our homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, whilst creating 50,000 jobs by 2030.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 tackle the effect of ocean acidification; and what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations from the Ocean Acidification Research Programme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate has stated, increasing emissions of carbon dioxide will result in greater levels of ocean acidification. The most effective way to reduce the impacts of climate change and acidification on our ocean is to reduce emissions. The UK Government has therefore set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
From 2010-16, Defra partnered with the Natural Environment Research Council and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to invest £12.4 million in the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme. This programme provided baseline data on ocean acidification for UK seas and supported the development of long-term monitoring strategies. The outputs from this ground-breaking initiative contributed evidence which has fed into the cross-Government Climate Change Adaptation programme and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report. The UK has also supported the inclusion of ocean acidification monitoring in the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and through other international policy initiatives.
In 2018, building on the UK Ocean Acidification programme, Defra’s Science Advisory Council reviewed the national monitoring and assessment programmes for ocean acidification and provided advice on where the UK could contribute to global monitoring. As a result of this we have now established the North East Atlantic Ocean Acidification Hub in the UK which forms part of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network. This Defra-funded hub acts as the European regional centre on monitoring and research. An Ocean Acidification Hub workshop was held in London in 2019 to foster collaboration and share information on ocean acidification monitoring and modelling across communities, to encourage and ease the data-submission process via the Global Ocean Acidification Portal, promote best practices and build capacity for further training.
We also recognise the importance of global research collaboration and have joined the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Ocean Acidification, sharing our knowledge and science with our international partners.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the CPRE report, Greener, better, faster: countryside solutions to the climate emergency and for a green recovery, published in July 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I had the pleasure of speaking at the launch of the CPRE report, Greener, Better, Faster in which the countryside is at the heart of a green recovery and a source of climate change solutions.
While the world is rightly focused on tackling the immediate threat of coronavirus, other great global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss have not gone away. The Government remains committed to being a world leader on tackling the environmental crises we face.
As we develop our mitigation plans, we will need to manage trade-offs with our other objectives, for example, balancing land use change for mitigation purposes (e.g. planting trees) with enhancing the natural environment and improving food security.
Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy.
Farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering the following public goods: clean air; clean and plentiful water; thriving plants and wildlife; reduction in and protection from environmental hazards; beauty, heritage and engagement with the environment; mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.
Mitigation of and adaptation to climate change are important goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and important objectives of ELM. ELM could support this through providing funding for land management activities that reduce greenhouse gas emission and sequester carbon.
Adapting to the inevitable changes in our climate is also vital. While we continue to reduce our contribution to climate change, we are also taking robust action to improve the resilience of our people, economy and environment.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 merits of nature-friendly farming for the environment.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Nature-friendly farming is fundamental to our new approach to England’s agricultural system. We want to create new business opportunities alongside producing the great British food we all rely on, by paying farmers to adopt more environmentally sustainable farming practices and enhance our natural capital. [45117]
Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme will be the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy.
Farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering the following public goods set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan:
Where nature-based solutions contribute towards the delivery of these public goods, they may be funded by ELM. We will determine in more detail what ELM will pay for as we further develop the scheme and are engaging with stakeholders to inform this.
The ELM scheme is being designed collaboratively with stakeholders. We are considering how more environmentally-sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within ELM where these contribute towards the delivery of environmental public goods.
Meanwhile, Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides a stepping stone to the future scheme, paying for environmental enhancements now as area-based payments are phased out.
CS supports Defra’s Strategic Objective of ‘a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting people and the economy’. Through the scheme, farmers can apply for funding to improve their local environment – from restoring wildlife habitats and creating woodlands to managing flood risk.
We will continue to offer CS agreements in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
However, because CS is insufficient in scale to deliver the ambitious goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan, it will eventually be replaced with the new ELM scheme.
Those signed up to CS who secure a place in the ELM pilot, or join the scheme when it is fully rolled out, will be able to leave their agreements at agreed exit points, without penalty. [45118]
a) The merits of agro-ecology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
The Government is committed to taking action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. Defra is looking at ways to reduce agricultural emissions controlled directly within the farm boundary, considering a broad range of measures including improvements in on-farm efficiency.
One of the public goods incentivised by ELM will be mitigation and adaption to climate change. ELM is about giving farmers and land managers an income stream for the environmental public goods they provide. We are considering how more environmentally-sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within ELM.
Additionally, agroforestry can play an important role in addressing some of the key issues of climate and land use change in England, through the ecosystem services it provides. Tree planting can provide significant carbon storage benefits.
b) The merits of agro-ecology to the UK’s food and farming industry:
Our new approach to the English agricultural system will create new income opportunities for farmers and land managers, by rewarding them for providing public goods and adopting more environmentally-sustainable farming practices.
We know that environmentally-friendly farming and food production can go hand in hand.
c) The merits of agro-ecology to support a healthy rural economy:
Our new ELM scheme is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy.
We are committed to co-designing the ELM scheme with stakeholders to produce the best outcomes for both the environment and our farmers and managers.
As we continue to design ELM, we will assess the impact of our proposals on a wide range of things such as the environment, our rural economies, and on England’s ability to continue to produce food. [45119]
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
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 support farmers and land-users using agroecological approaches to their land and operations.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Nature-friendly farming is fundamental to our new approach to England’s agricultural system. We want to create new business opportunities alongside producing the great British food we all rely on, by paying farmers to adopt more environmentally sustainable farming practices and enhance our natural capital. [45117]
Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme will be the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy.
Farmers and other land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering the following public goods set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan:
Where nature-based solutions contribute towards the delivery of these public goods, they may be funded by ELM. We will determine in more detail what ELM will pay for as we further develop the scheme and are engaging with stakeholders to inform this.
The ELM scheme is being designed collaboratively with stakeholders. We are considering how more environmentally-sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within ELM where these contribute towards the delivery of environmental public goods.
Meanwhile, Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides a stepping stone to the future scheme, paying for environmental enhancements now as area-based payments are phased out.
CS supports Defra’s Strategic Objective of ‘a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting people and the economy’. Through the scheme, farmers can apply for funding to improve their local environment – from restoring wildlife habitats and creating woodlands to managing flood risk.
We will continue to offer CS agreements in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
However, because CS is insufficient in scale to deliver the ambitious goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan, it will eventually be replaced with the new ELM scheme.
Those signed up to CS who secure a place in the ELM pilot, or join the scheme when it is fully rolled out, will be able to leave their agreements at agreed exit points, without penalty. [45118]
a) The merits of agro-ecology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
The Government is committed to taking action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. Defra is looking at ways to reduce agricultural emissions controlled directly within the farm boundary, considering a broad range of measures including improvements in on-farm efficiency.
One of the public goods incentivised by ELM will be mitigation and adaption to climate change. ELM is about giving farmers and land managers an income stream for the environmental public goods they provide. We are considering how more environmentally-sustainable farming approaches, including organic farming and agro-ecological approaches, may fit within ELM.
Additionally, agroforestry can play an important role in addressing some of the key issues of climate and land use change in England, through the ecosystem services it provides. Tree planting can provide significant carbon storage benefits.
b) The merits of agro-ecology to the UK’s food and farming industry:
Our new approach to the English agricultural system will create new income opportunities for farmers and land managers, by rewarding them for providing public goods and adopting more environmentally-sustainable farming practices.
We know that environmentally-friendly farming and food production can go hand in hand.
c) The merits of agro-ecology to support a healthy rural economy:
Our new ELM scheme is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy.
We are committed to co-designing the ELM scheme with stakeholders to produce the best outcomes for both the environment and our farmers and managers.
As we continue to design ELM, we will assess the impact of our proposals on a wide range of things such as the environment, our rural economies, and on England’s ability to continue to produce food. [45119]