Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that destruction of the world's forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, primarily due to a surge in fires.
Answered by Baroness Curran
The UK is deeply concerned by the record-breaking levels of forest loss, linked to climate-driven wildfires, identified in the recent World Resources Institute report (WRI-latest-analysis-deforestation-trends, 21/05/25).
The UK remains steadfast behind the shared commitment to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. We are working with partners to strengthen ambition and accelerate delivery of efforts to protect, restore, and sustainably manage critical ecosystems, including by supporting global action on wildfires through the G7. As co-chair of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), we are pushing for greater political focus on tackling deforestation as we approach COP30.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published on 22 April by Friends of the Earth International, Climate and biodiversity in freefall, particularly the finding that 78 per cent of the top 50 carbon offsetting projects are likely ineffective or worthless.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The UK is a strong advocate for carbon pricing and a pioneer on carbon markets, through domestic action and our support for the uptake of pricing and market schemes globally.
Harnessed properly, carbon markets can help deliver global climate ambition, mobilise much-needed finance to tackle climate change, and deliver cost-effective abatement and wider development benefits. They can play a crucial role in protecting forests internationally and in the UK.
Stakeholders have called for greater clarity on what constitutes a high-quality carbon credit and how credits should be used. Therefore, in November last year the UK Government published a set of guiding principles for high-integrity voluntary carbon and nature markets and in April this year we launched a consultation into steps that can be taken to implement these.
Through our climate finance programmes the UK has helped address the challenges linked with ‘project-based’ forest credits , for example, the ‘leakage’ of carbon emissions. We have worked with countries to develop jurisdictional approaches to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), which cover entire countries or states, allowing greater transparency and the generation of higher-integrity carbon credits.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) improve energy efficiency in rural homes, and (2) improve access to advanced energy solutions.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Our ambitious Warm Homes Plan will support investment in households, including rural homes, to install energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to save families money on their bills.
The Government has committed £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. This includes the new Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), which will provide support for low-income households living in privately owned EPC band D-G homes both on and off the gas grid in England.
We are taking steps to make heat pumps more efficient and easier to install which includes increasing funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to £295 million next financial year, removing outdated planning rules and consulting on product efficiency standards.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the finding published on 27 March in Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics in England, 2025 (2024 data) that rural households have a higher rate of fuel poverty, what steps they are taking to tackle fuel poverty in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government is currently consulting on a new fuel poverty strategy for England and has kickstarted delivery of the Warm Homes Plan, including an initial £1.8billion to support fuel poverty schemes over the next three years. Mutiple energy efficiency schemes support fuel poor households including in rural areas. The Warm Home Discount supported around 3 million eligible low-income households last winter and we recently consulted on expanding the scheme to more low income households next winter.
Our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication in Environmental Research Letters on 31 March of Reconsidering the macroeconomic damage of severe warming, what assessment they have made of the finding that global warming will have a significant negative impact on the size of the global economy.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The latest Synthesis Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that it is unequivocal that human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land, and that widespread and rapid changes to the climate have occurred. The IPCC also found that projected net economic damages generally increase non-linearly with global warming levels and that economic impacts could be higher than previous estimates.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Simon Counsell and Survival International Blood Carbon: how carbon offset schemes are devastating Indigenous peoples and their forests in Cambodia, published October 2024, in particular the adequacy and effectiveness of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation+ projects in reducing carbon emissions.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The report highlights the importance of getting forest carbon projects right. Carbon markets could provide billions of dollars of much needed finance to protect the forests in the UK and internationally but we will only be able to build these markets if they have environmental and social integrity. That is why the UK government has been supporting tropical forest countries to develop high integrity forest carbon credits. It is also why the Government will soon be launching a consultation on how it could support higher integrity in voluntary carbon and nature markets. While the evidence for the effectiveness of forest carbon projects has been mixed, the UK focuses its efforts on scaling Jurisdictional REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), which covers entire countries or states. This approach helps to address the challenges linked with more traditional ‘project-based’ REDD+, for example, the ‘leakage’ of carbon emissions.
The Government will continue to work through international fora to ensure that the voices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are heard and respected. To this end, the UK welcomes the agreement of the Appeals and Grievances Procedure for the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, which provides an important route for safeguarding.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the issues raised by the Survival International Report of the Northern Rangelands Trust carbon offsetting project in Kenya.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Carbon markets have huge potential to reduce the cost of meeting net zero, both in the UK and globally. This will help reduce the worst impacts of climate change, including for the most vulnerable communities.
However, the Government is clear that for carbon markets to deliver, they need to demonstrate integrity and offer appropriate social protections. The report raises serious concerns about the impact of this project on Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs), in addition to its delivery of real and permanent carbon reductions.
The Government has acted both through our international climate finance and by supporting global integrity initiatives to improve transparency and safeguarding in the market. We will continue to ensure robust safeguards are in place through our international climate finance programming; and beyond this will continue to work through international fora, including the integrity initiatives and negotiations, to ensure IPLC voices are heard as the market evolves.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address fuel poverty in rural areas, bearing in mind that many rural households are not on the gas grid, in the winter of 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are supporting rural homes and homes off the gas grid through targeted energy efficiency schemes including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Home Upgrade Grant. The Home Upgrade Grant delivers energy efficiency upgrades to low-income households living in the least energy efficient homes off the gas grid.
The Warm Home Discount scheme provides low-income and vulnerable households across Great Britain, including rural areas, with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill.
This year, low income or vulnerable rural households may also be in receipt of the £900 Cost of Living Payment which is being paid across three instalments.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to upgrade three-phase power supply to support British farmers with the uptake of renewables.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The regulatory framework for investment in and connections to the electricity network is the responsibility of Ofgem. For connection applications from 1 April 2023, Ofgem has removed the requirement for demand connection customers to contribute to any distribution network reinforcement costs, this would include installing onsite generation on a farm below its maximum demand. For generation in excess of maximum demand for a site, Ofgem has reduced the network reinforcement contribution required.
Connection customers must fund upgrades to a three-phase connection cable, however an Independent Connection Provider can provide this which can reduce costs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in connecting solar farms and wind turbines to the national grid; and what steps they are taking to accelerate this process.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Years of world-leading green investment has meant network operators have experienced record demand for connections to the electricity network. We have increased the amount of renewable energy connected to the grid more than sixfold since 2010.
Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to release capacity and improve the connections process, to accelerate connections. Actions already underway by network companies are expected to see a reduction in transmission connection timescales of 2-10 years, for the majority of existing projects. Building on this work, the Government and Ofgem will publish a joint action plan on accelerating connections this summer.