Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ban the practice of importing real fur into the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000, and since 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are existing import restrictions on seal products and cat and dog fur. Our Action Plan on Animal Welfare was clear that we will explore potential action with regard to the import of other fur from abroad.
Whilst the UK was a member of the European Union (EU), we were subject to rules on the free circulation of goods within the EU market. Building on the opportunities presented by our departure from the EU, we can now take further steps to address low welfare standards, informed by evidence and reflecting our values.
On 31 May, Defra published a formal call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain (GB). This was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to improve our understanding of the fur sector in GB and gather evidence from interested parties. We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area.
We will use the evidence gathered to inform any future action on the fur trade in GB, in line with the Government's commitment to improving animal welfare standards. A summary of responses to the call for evidence, setting out the results and any next steps in this policy space, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Environmental Land Management schemes on greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the objectives of those schemes with the UK's net zero target.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Defra is taking action to tackle climate change, in line with our net zero target, by making consistent contributions towards reducing emissions from agriculture and agricultural land and increasing the amount of carbon that is sequestered and stored. All three of our Environmental Land Management schemes will pay farmers to provide agreed environmental outcomes, including actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The soil standards recently announced as part of the first year roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive will play a part in this.
Initial projections of the SFI arable/horticultural soil and improved grassland soil standards estimate average potential carbon savings of up to 0.8 megatons of CO2 equivalent in England annually over the CB6 period (the sixth carbon budget period under the Climate Change Act, from 2033 to 2037). These savings are roughly equivalent to a total of up to 400,000 cars off the road per year over the CB6 period (based on annual emissions by an average car on the road in 2019). Improving soil health is an important potential mechanism to sequester more carbon, but we know that we must do more to deliver our Net Zero ambitions.
We are continuing to consider a wide range of measures for how to reduce emissions from agriculture and increase the amount of carbon captured by the land, as we roll out the Environmental Land Management schemes.
A more detailed overview of our departmental plans to help the UK meet its climate targets will be set out in the Net Zero Strategy, to be published ahead of COP26.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of how the agricultural sector can transition to net zero.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich on 9 June 2021, PQ UIN 13266.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to progress implementation of nature-based climate solutions with the (a) speed and (b) ambition needed to deliver the UK’s nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The UK is committed to taking ambitious, far-reaching action to tackle climate change and meet our commitments under the Paris agreement. We have announced a series of ambitious plans since committing to net zero emissions in law, including through our target to reduce emissions by at least 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels - the highest reduction target made by a major economy to date. Ahead of COP26, we will set out plans across key sectors of the economy through our Net Zero Strategy, to meet our carbon budgets and net zero commitment, and nature-based solutions will be a part of these plans.
We are exploring a range of potential Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) including; restoring degraded peatlands; appropriately establishing multi-purpose woodlands and protecting them; and restoring or recreating wetland and coastal habitats. We have already published our England Peat and Trees Action Plans this May which provide an ambitious framework to improve the management of peatlands, and our planting and management of woodlands and trees. This is underpinned by our £640 million Nature for Climate Fund over the course of this Parliament which will support a trebling of tree planting across England by the end of this Parliament and help to restore 35,000ha of peatland over the next 5 years.
We are also exploring options for incentivising private investment to further develop the nascent market in NbS. This includes enabling this market to scale up by developing robust, long term policy and regulatory frameworks to facilitate high quality investment.
By making nature, including NbS to climate change, a key focus of COP26, we hope to demonstrate that NbS can deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity, and people, and can therefore play a critical role in tackling these interrelated crises in an integrated way.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the planned timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals on banning the sale of fur in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We have some of the highest welfare standards in the world, and that is both a source of pride and a clear reflection of UK attitudes towards animals.
Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 and since 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. These include fur and products from cats and dogs, and seal skins and products from commercial hunts.
The Government is considering any further steps it could take in relation to fur.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) China and (c) other countries that permit mink farming on the plans that they have in place to stop the spread of covid-19 in fur farms.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra is monitoring the situation carefully and working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Public Health England. Our Chief Veterinary Officer and officials have regular contact with our European neighbours who farm mink for fur and with the USA where cases have also been reported.
We have not had any direct contact with China. Our FCDO colleagues are looking into the situation as we know China is one of the global leaders in farming animals for fur.
We have published a cross-Government risk assessment for the UK on this situation.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/hairs-risk-assessment-on-sars-cov-2-in-mustelinae-population