Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Vietnamese counterpart on furthering the bilateral relationship.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I visited Vietnam from 25-27 October 2023 to attend the South China Sea Conference and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) South East Asia Ministerial Forum, and to discuss regional security, investment and economic development. The UK and Vietnam continue to have positive cooperation on long-term strategic priorities such as energy transition and adaptation to climate change, maritime security in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, illegal immigration, trade, technology and investment, and on education and research partnerships. Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Philip Barton recently visited Vietnam on 25 March to meet with Vietnamese ministries to discuss further cooperation in these areas.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 19037 on Climate Change: Investment, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing an additional £3 billion per year for nature restoration for adaptation as set out in the report by the Climate Change Committee entitled Investment for a well-adapted UK, published on 1 February 2023; and how much funding his Department plans to provide for nature restoration and adaptation in each of the next ten years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the Environment Act 2021, the Government committed to the legally binding target of creating or restoring more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected site by 2042. Taking actions for nature, including protecting our land and species, is also a core part of our third National Adaptation Programme.
This Government is not currently planning to make an additional assessment around providing £3bn per year on nature restoration for adaptation and cannot commit to funding beyond the life of this parliament, but regularly reviews budgets as part of business planning and spending review decisions.
Defra has guaranteed an average £2.4bn annual budget for the farming sector for the life of this Parliament. This includes paying farmers to restore valuable habitats such as lowland peat and to engage in sustainable agroforestry and wetland management, which will support adaptation to climate change. A range of bespoke funding also exists to support nature restoration. Our recently awarded Species Survival Fund is supporting 20 projects with £25m for habitat creation and restoration, while Natural England has launched 12 Nature Recovery Projects spanning over 300,000 hectares since 2022, with 13 more to come by 2025.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to paragraph 22 of the fifth Special Report of the Energy and Climate Change Committee of Session 2010-11 entitled UK Deepwater Drilling: Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Government Response to the Committee's Second Report of Session 2010–11, HC 882, published on 22 March 2011, what recent progress the Government has made on ensuring that oil spill response equipment is designed to take full account of the harsh environment in the West of Shetland.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The response to pollution incidents from offshore hydrocarbon operations is led by Industry and their primary response contractor Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL). Since the report was published, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) cap was developed and been in service since 2011. OSRL have also developed additional higher rated capping devices which have been in service since 2013. OSRL have also extended their response capability to include a base in the Shetland Islands to respond promptly to incidents West of Shetland. This base contains response equipment which has been specially selected for West of Shetland conditions.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 18175 on Nature Conservation: Finance, what estimate he has made of the total budget that is (a) unspent and (b) unallocated as of 12 April 2024.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23 the UK spent £763 million on climate change interventions that protect and restore nature and biodiversity leaving £2.2 billion to spend between 2023/24 and 2025/26. This figure will be updated when total spend for the financial year for 2023/24 is finalised later this year. There is currently over £3 billion allocated to nature programming between 2021/22 and 2025/26.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
What progress she has made on reaching the UK’s 2050 net zero target.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Britain is the first major economy to halve emissions, whilst growing the economy by 80%. We have more ambitious targets for 2030 than the EU, with the UK aiming for a 68% reduction in emissions to their 55%. We have over-achieved on all carbon budgets to date, and remain on track for the next.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to take steps to encourage companies that extract fossil fuels to contribute to the loss and damage fund at COP 29.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to establishing an efficient and effective Fund for Loss and Damage which delivers demonstrable outcomes for those particularly vulnerable to climate change. The UK's pledge of up to £40 million for the new Fund will help achieve this. Given the scale of finance required to respond to climate impacts, it is essential that the Fund encourages and deploys a wide variety of sources of funding, including from public, private and innovative sources. As a Board member, the UK will work with others to broaden the scale, scope and sources of financing for loss and damage.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19159 on Overseas Investment: Fossil Fuels, what his planned timescale is for ending support for the overseas fossil fuel sector.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government's policy on supporting overseas fossil fuel projects is set out at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65840f10fc07f300128d45e9/aligning-uk-international-support-for-the-clean-energy-transition.pdf. This policy has been in force since 31 March 2021.
All investment commitments made by BII since December 2020 meet the conditions set out in BII's Climate Change Strategy and the UK Government's fossil fuel policy. BII are committed to Paris alignment and to reaching net zero at a portfolio level by 2050. A quick sale of existing fossil fuel assets would simply offload the problem to other potentially less responsible investors and may not offer value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) short and (b) long term impact of (i) extreme weather and (ii) storms on the economy.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023. It set out policies and actions to respond to the 61 climate risks and opportunities identified in the independent Third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), including risks arising from changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events. As part of CCRA3, the Climate Change Committee produced an analysis of the monetary valuation of risks and opportunities, as well as an analysis of the indicative costs and benefits of adaptation.
The Treasury continues to work to determine what additional research and analysis, including economic analysis, is required to ensure robust adaptation.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19040 on Climate Change: Investment, what steps he is taking to help support the national coordination of funding for climate adaptation.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has set out the steps it is taking to respond to climate risks and opportunities in the Third National Adaptation Programme, which has taken an integrated approach through governance, engagement and coordinated policymaking. These steps, including those relating to the 2023 Green Finance Strategy, will inform future collective investment prioritisation through the usual government planning processes, including Spending Reviews.Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on allocating the £75 million additional funding for Internal Drainage Boards.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the National Farmers Union Conference in February the Prime Minister and Defra Ministers announced a new £75million one-off grant for internal drainage boards (IDBs) in 2024/25. This is following the winter storms and flooding and will be used to better protect agricultural land and rural communities. It will contribute towards helping IDBs recover and repair assets damaged from the recent flooding and will contribute towards modernising IDB infrastructure to lower costs and increase resilience to climate change.
Defra officials are working closely with the Environment Agency and the Association of Drainage Authorities (membership body that represents the interests of IDBs) on the details of the fund and application processes. We aim to allocate grants from June.