Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 14 Jul 2022
Protecting and Restoring Nature: COP15 and Beyond
"This is why my argument is around a real focus on the restoration of degraded land. Semi-desert subsistence farmland will never deliver anything for anyone except an impoverished lifestyle and poor biodiversity, but the restoration of land is a tangible that can be addressed in the COP because it can …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 28 Jun 2022
Bottom Trawling: Marine Protected Areas
"I beg to move,
That this House has considered Bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. This may be unusual for a half-hour debate, but there are a number of colleagues here who may want to briefly join the discussion. …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 28 Jun 2022
Bottom Trawling: Marine Protected Areas
"Yes, I do agree. Fishing communities need to be a part of the discussion, and local fishing communities in the United Kingdom are pretty good at looking after their coastal waters. The problem is the big guys who come in and hoover the ocean floor. It is necessary to get …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 28 Jun 2022
Bottom Trawling: Marine Protected Areas
"I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes some very good points. This is about proper, careful stewardship of the ocean and the ocean floor. As he rightly says, if these things are done well, it can benefit everyone.
Of course, there is another issue, because this is …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 28 Jun 2022
Bottom Trawling: Marine Protected Areas
"It is, as the hon. Gentleman says, the big vessels that are the problem. I am sure the Minister will take a careful note of those comments, with which I am extremely sympathetic.
There is another point of concern that I would like to put to the Minister. Not all …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 28 Jun 2022
Bottom Trawling: Marine Protected Areas
"I absolutely agree. Frankly, I think that any fishing vessel that comes into UK waters and turns off the tracking systems should be banned from UK waters. It is as simple as that.
Whatever we do, we have to police very carefully. Problems arise if we only proscribe bottom trawling …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 13 Jun 2022
Government Food Strategy
"Opposition Members might like to note the fact that April exports to the EU were the highest on record.
I congratulate the Secretary of State on the statement, in which there is much to be welcomed. He knows of my concern and that of Back-Bench members of the 1922 committee …..."Lord Grayling - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 26th April 2022
Asked by:
Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish recommendations from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee arising from the seventh Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee's (JNCC) seventh Quinquennial Review report was submitted to ministers on 19 April. It provides ministers with independent scientific advice on proposed changes to Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. We will consider the recommendations carefully before publishing JNCC's advice later this year. We will consider the report alongside the responses from the Nature Green Paper consultation before any decisions are made.
Written Question
Monday 14th March 2022
Asked by:
Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made towards the introduction of sustainable food labelling in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Government is currently undertaking significant work in this area to improve the evidence base and address current evidence gaps which will help to inform our policy priorities. For example, specific impacts of environmental labelling on consumers' purchasing behaviour are less well known, so Defra has commissioned consumer insights work to strengthen this evidence area. This will aid better understanding towards the efficacy of eco-labelling on consumer buying preferences and assist in identifying whether environmental labelling leads to more sustainable supply chains, in alignment with reducing the UK's emissions targets.
We want to empower consumers with more effective information to help them make healthier, greener, and more sustainable choices in their diet and are reviewing how food information can be improved - such as through improved labelling - so consumers can make more informed decisions while maintaining freedom of choice.
Elsewhere, we are working with the Environment Agency on its SEEBEYOND project which is looking at the standardisation of metrics in the food and drink sector.
Written Question
Wednesday 9th March 2022
Asked by:
Lord Grayling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward plans to strengthen the legal protection of the hedgehog.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
This Government is committed to halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, through a world-leading legally binding target under the Environment Act. We will shortly be publishing a Green Paper to look at how we can drive the delivery of that target, including through our sites and protections for species, such as the hedgehog. Other actions under the Environment Act are likely to support species like hedgehogs, such as biodiversity net gain for development including nationally significant infrastructure projects. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also help identify and drive local actions to protect and recover species at a scale that will be beneficial to species such as the hedgehog. Our new environmental land management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, creating and preserving habitat such as such as woodland, heathland and species-rich grassland, as well as making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which could benefit species such as hedgehog.