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Written Question
Countryside: Climate Change
Monday 13th July 2020

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

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.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 25 Jun 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

" When the Church Commissioners plan to reopen churches for services as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased. ..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 25 Jun 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

"The self-sacrifice of so many people during the extreme lockdown period will have saved many lives, but one of the great sacrifices for many people will have been the inability to attend church physically and to have had to cancel weddings, baptisms and other deeply significant ceremonies. I understand my …..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Written Question
National Parks: Chilterns
Tuesday 16th June 2020

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, what progress has been made on assessing the potential merits of the recommendation in the Glover Report that the Chilterns area of outstanding natural beauty should be designated as a National Park.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

The independent Review of Landscapes, led by Julian Glover, was commissioned by the Government as part of the 25 Year Plan for the Environment. Among its proposals are new designated landscapes, including consideration of National Park status for the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Government has welcomed the spirit and ambition of the Review and will respond in due course.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 31 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"9. What steps she is taking to protect chalk streams. ..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 31 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"Today is a sad day for Buckinghamshire, Mr Speaker, because we are going to lose you as the Member for Buckingham. Before I ask my question of the Minister, may I just say that you have been a superb colleague to sit alongside? I am going to miss you particularly …..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 31 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"Thank you.

The Chess and the Misbourne are ecologically vulnerable chalk streams in my constituency, and there are several in the Chilterns that are under threat. HS2 Ltd has now said that it requires 8 million litres of water a day for two years in order to build phase 1 …..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 31 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"5. What the timeframe is for the publication of the National Audit Office’s progress review on High Speed Two. ..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 31 Oct 2019
Oral Answers to Questions

"In his bombshell report, Allan Cook, the chairman of HS2, admitted publicly that HS2 was billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule. Quite frankly, given HS2’s poor corporate governance and the rapid turnover of not only senior staff but Ministers, who are supposed to have oversight of this …..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 22 Jul 2019
Degraded Chalk Stream Environments

"My point of order was not a spurious one. I wanted to inquire whether the Secretary of State for Transport had indicated that he was going to make a statement on the escalating costs of HS2, which will damage the chalk streams in my area, as my hon. Friend well …..."
Cheryl Gillan - View Speech

View all Cheryl Gillan (Con - Chesham and Amersham) contributions to the debate on: Degraded Chalk Stream Environments