Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 (a) improve the sustainability of the fishing industry and (b) ensure that fishing practices do not damage the biodiversity of global oceans.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Fisheries Act’s objectives, together with their strong legal framework of the Joint Fisheries Statement and Fisheries Management Plans set out our commitment to achieving sustainable (in all senses of the word) fishing and protecting the marine environment.
Internationally, the UK is expanding and enhancing our efforts to sustainably manage fisheries, protect ecosystems and combat illegal fishing at an international scale through our engagement in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, other international organisations such as the FAO, and directly with individual States.
The UK is championing efforts to achieve ambitious and transformative outcomes from the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) COP15 in October later this year, including targets for sustainable fishing practices, and is co-leading global efforts to ensure the adoption of a target to protect at least 30% of land and ocean globally by 2030 (the ‘30by30’ target). Importantly, the UK also supports the conclusion of negotiations on a new implementing Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), which will have provisions that allow for the creation of MPAs in these areas, a key mechanism to deliver ‘30by30’.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 proportion of (a) UK and (b) global waters which have been damaged by bottom trawling and supertrawlers.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The impacts of all fishing activities are considered when we assess the status of UK seas and set targets to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) under the UK Marine Strategy. Our last assessment (2019) showed that pressure and disturbance caused by fishing activities occurs to some degree in 57% of habitats in UK waters.
Work is currently underway to update Part Three of the UK Marine Strategy, which sets out the programmes and measures we are taking in our waters to help us move towards or maintain GES. Included as part of these measures will be the new Fisheries Act which now allows UK Authorities to manage fishing activity in our waters and will help to achieve the UK’s vision of a clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse ocean and seas.
The IPBES 2019 Global Assessment shows us that human activities have had alarge and widespread impact on the ocean. Globally, direct exploitation of organisms in particular overexploitation of fish, shellfish and other organisms, has had the largest relative impact on biodiversity. An increasing proportion of marine fish stocks are overfished, and industrial fishing covers at least 55% of the ocean. Coastal habitats, including estuaries and deltas critical for marine biota and regional economies, havebeen severely affected by sea-use changes, including bottom trawling.
Evidence indicates that effective protection of at least 30% of the global ocean can help in reversing these adverse ecological impacts, preserve fish populations, increase resilience to climate change, and sustain long-term ocean health. That is why, in addition to protecting 38% of the UK’s own waters in Marine Protected Areas, the UK is co-leading global alliances in support of a target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (‘the 30by30 target’). Under UK leadership, over 80 countries have now committed to support the adoption of this target at Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15, due to be held in October 2021.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 reduce the use of bottom trawling and supertrawlers by the fishing industry.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra is continuing to work with fishermen to develop ways to reduce the impact of fishing gear on the seabed, whilst still allowing the industry to remain profitable. For example, 98 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in inshore waters have management measures in place to protect sensitive features from bottom towed fishing gears. The Marine Management Organisation has recently concluded the first in a series of consultations on measures for offshore MPAs, which again seek to reduce the impact of bottom trawling.
The issue of supertrawlers is more complex as they generally target pelagic species of fish within the water column and are unlikely to damage the seabed. We are currently reviewing our policy on these vessels but perhaps more importantly, working to develop more robust management of non-quota stocks which these vessels are targeting as well as quota stocks.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish its new life cycle assessment of disposable and washable hygiene products.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The environmental assessment of disposable and reusable absorbent hygiene products is being undertaken by independent analysts. They have taken into consideration information including a recent survey using YouGov Parents Omnibus to establish current ages for potty training, and are using the most recent and best available international lifecycle inventory databases and secondary data in the public domain, supported by primary data provided by industry where this has been forthcoming. The analysts are in the final stages of completing the work which will be published later this year, following peer review. The sources of the information used will be included in the final report.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department is using the most up to date data available to inform its new life cycle assessment of disposable and washable absorbent hygiene products.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The environmental assessment of disposable and reusable absorbent hygiene products is being undertaken by independent analysts. They have taken into consideration information including a recent survey using YouGov Parents Omnibus to establish current ages for potty training, and are using the most recent and best available international lifecycle inventory databases and secondary data in the public domain, supported by primary data provided by industry where this has been forthcoming. The analysts are in the final stages of completing the work which will be published later this year, following peer review. The sources of the information used will be included in the final report.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the data being collated with reference to the age at which children potty train that is informing his Department's new life cycle assessment of disposable and washable absorbent hygiene products.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The environmental assessment of disposable and reusable absorbent hygiene products is being undertaken by independent analysts. They have taken into consideration information including a recent survey using YouGov Parents Omnibus to establish current ages for potty training, and are using the most recent and best available international lifecycle inventory databases and secondary data in the public domain, supported by primary data provided by industry where this has been forthcoming. The analysts are in the final stages of completing the work which will be published later this year, following peer review. The sources of the information used will be included in the final report.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees were planted under The Big Tree Plant scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The £4 million Big Tree Plant planted one million trees across England from 2010-2015. Defra and the Forestry Commission funded the costs of establishing trees (weeding, mulching, watering, replacing lost trees etc), and local authorities and communities have been responsible since for ensuring these trees are kept in good condition.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of trees planted under The Big Tree Plant scheme are still viable.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The £4 million Big Tree Plant planted one million trees across England from 2010-2015. Defra and the Forestry Commission funded the costs of establishing trees (weeding, mulching, watering, replacing lost trees etc), and local authorities and communities have been responsible since for ensuring these trees are kept in good condition.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of plastic waste (a) exported to non-OECD countries by the UK in each year since 2016 and (b) that will be exported to non-OECD countries by the UK in 2021.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The UK Government has pledged to ban the export of all plastic waste to non-OECD countries and to introduce tougher controls on waste exports, including mandatory electronic waste tracking which will make it harder for criminals to obtain and export waste illegally.
Defra has commissioned research to determine the environmental, economic and social impacts of the ban on exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and analyse policy options around implementation of the ban. This research project will commence shortly and will examine plastic waste recycling capacity in the UK and OECD, it will also assess future UK plastic waste arisings and the impact of national, regional and international policies on UK plastic waste shipments.
The UK exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries from 2016 onwards are illustrated in the table below:
(Source: HMRC)
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Quantity Exported (tonnes) | 52,080 | 171,480 | 356,412 | 479,748 | 635,908 |
Information on exports of all wastes are gathered and published by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and can be accessed here:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/ots-custom-table/