Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will use the extension to the deadline for publication of targets under the Environment Act 2021 to develop a terrestrial protected areas target, as proposed by the consultation on the targets and to help meet the UK’s commitment to protecting 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward the Environment Act 2021 environmental targets legislation, and whether this will be before the UN Convention on Biodiversity (COP15) Part II meetings in Montreal from 7 to 19 December.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make a statement on the key programmes that will enable delivery of the environmental targets required by the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to use the extension to the publication of environmental targets required by the Environment Act 2021 to develop a terrestrial protected areas target in order to help meet the UK's commitment to protecting 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out in a written statement published on 28th October, we will continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) sets out the steps HM Government intends to take to improve the natural environment. The EIP will be reviewed to include an overview of delivery measures needed to meet targets and at least one interim target for each long-term target that has been set.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Darwin Plus Local fund to build local environmental conservation capacity in UK Overseas Territories will be launched by the end of the year; and whether the Darwin Plus Strategic fund to allow Overseas Territories to collaborate on larger environmental projects will open in 2023.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HM Government is committed to expanding the Darwin Plus programme. Darwin Plus Local is planned to open for applications in January 2023, ready to fund projects from April 2023. More information about the development of Darwin Plus Strategic will be published in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the findings of the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the United Kingdom, there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting and therefore inclusion of emissions from coastal wetland habitats into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. However, through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon. One of the first aims of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement. The Statement is likely to include identification of evidence gaps which are a barrier to the inclusion of coastal wetlands into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as set out in a recently published report commissioned by BEIS; "Towards the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK LULUCF inventory" (a copy is attached to this answer).The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will include "a roadmap to inclusion of saltmarsh and seagrass" in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee in their report Briefing: Blue Carbon, published in March.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the United Kingdom, there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting and therefore inclusion of emissions from coastal wetland habitats into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. However, through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon. One of the first aims of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement. The Statement is likely to include identification of evidence gaps which are a barrier to the inclusion of coastal wetlands into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as set out in a recently published report commissioned by BEIS; "Towards the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK LULUCF inventory" (a copy is attached to this answer).The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to encourage "efforts to monitor, understand and analyse changes in the extent, condition and functioning of marine and coastal ecosystems", as set out in their report Briefing: Blue Carbon, published in March.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The United Kingdom established a new cross-Administration UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership (UKBCEP), to progress the evidence base on blue carbon habitats in UK waters and advance our commitment to protecting and restoring blue carbon habitats as a nature-based solution. Through the UKBCEP, UK Administrations are working together with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Defra to address key research questions related to blue carbon policy.
In April 2022, the UK Government launched its £140 million Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme, a flagship three-year R&D programme, spanning England's land, coast and sea. The programme includes mapping of blue carbon stock and sequestration rates and measuring the effects of physical damage and disturbance to the seabed (such as from bottom trawling) on blue carbon storage. This work will be used to inform marine planning and development decisions. In the programme's proof-of-concept year, the Environment Agency mapped areas within saltmarshes with different capacities to capture and store carbon, bringing the national saltmarsh zonation map up to 96.5% coverage of England's total saltmarsh habitat. The programme's work is now expanding to incorporate seagrass meadows and other coastal habitats to increase our understanding of their carbon storage and sequestration rates.
We are also improving understanding of the impact of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems. The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) synthesises the latest research and evidence on climate change impacts and predicted trends affecting those ecosystems. Established in 2005, MCCIP engages with a wide range of scientific authors and reviewers to produce updates on the evidence base. Going forward, topic updates will be provided on a rolling basis, supplying policy makers and the public with updates on the current and predicted impacts of climate change as they happen, to inform dynamic UK policy approaches to adaptation.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the proposed UK delegates attending the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal will be from (1) UK Overseas Territories, and (2) Crown Dependencies.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I will be attending CBD COP15 as part of the UK delegation, which will be led by Defra Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey. My Department continues to work closely with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies on our plans for the meeting. The current intention is for the delegation to contain eight representatives from the Overseas Territories. We will work closely together to advocate for ambitious global targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, including targets to ensure that at least 30% of the global land and of the ocean is protected, ecosystems are restored, species population sizes are recovering, and extinctions are halted by 2050.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take in the Biomass Strategy to ensure that energy crops do not create competition with food production on high quality agricultural land.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Land availability is a key consideration of any future role for domestic biomass production. The Food Strategy, published in June 2022, commits to publishing a land use framework for England in 2023 which will set out land-use change principles to ensure food security is balanced alongside climate, environment and infrastructure outcomes. We are seeking to deliver as much as we can on our limited supply of land, to meet the full range of HM Government commitments through multifunctional landscapes.