Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support private investment in ocean recovery.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ocean conservation and the protection of marine biodiversity is a global challenge and one that is critically underfunded. Through the UK’s £500m UK aid Blue Planet Fund and in line with the 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity and the International Development White Paper, we are supporting innovative projects that aim to attract and scale up private investment in ocean recovery. These initiatives include restoration and protection of blue carbon habitats and increasing coastal community resilience, funded through programmes led by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (£13.9m), the World Bank’s sustainable blue economies programme- PROBLUE (£37.5m), and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (£33m), amongst others. In June 2023, Lord Benyon hosted a joint UK-GFCR Investors Roundtable event, which showcased the GFCR as a viable investment opportunity and supported investor mobilisation for the GFCR Investment fund. At 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28), the GFCR Coalition announced the mobilisation of more than $200 million USD as an initial direct investment toward the newly established 2030 Coral Reef Breakthrough targets, these include mobilising $12bn for corals and protecting 125,000 km2 of corals (50% of ~250,000km2 global total) by 2030.
As set out in Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, we are also taking action to meet our target to raise £1bn in private finance into nature’s recovery in England every year by 2030, both on land and at sea.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the 2023 UK greenhouse gas emissions, provisional figures, published on 28 March 2024, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the increase in emissions from commercial buildings since 1990; and what steps her Department is taking to help reduce such emissions.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Between 1990 and 2023, provisional statistics show total greenhouse gas emissions from the buildings and product use sectors have fallen by an estimated 28%. However, in the same time period, emissions from commercial buildings have risen by 3% largely due to the use of natural gas for heating. To address this issue, the UK Government is working with industry to understand how to decarbonise commercial buildings in an affordable and appropriate manner, including through supporting energy efficiency improvements, developing the market for heat pumps, and developing heat network capacity. This approach is detailed in the Heat and Buildings Strategy, which can be accessed here.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) preserve and (b) expand blue carbon habitats.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the important role that blue carbon habitats such as saltmarsh and seagrass can play in climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience. These richly biodiverse habitats also provide a crucial buffer from coastal flooding, benefit fish stocks and improve local water quality.
The UK is a global leader in ocean protection and we have taken a number of steps to support blue carbon habitats. In England, we have established a comprehensive network of 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which cover the majority of our saltmarsh and seagrass habitats. MPAs are intended to protect designated features listed within the MPA target. While blue carbon habitats may not always be an explicitly designated feature, MPA protection may still yield benefits. Our focus is now on ensuring that these MPAs are effectively protected to allow the designated features to achieve favourable condition. The first three Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMAs) designations in English waters came into force in summer 2023. Two of the three designated sites, Allonby Bay and North East of Farnes Deep, contain blue carbon habitats. Defra is exploring identifying additional candidate HPMA sites.
The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and native oyster reefs. Working in partnership with environmental non-government organisations, industry, community groups, and academia, the initiative aims to identify innovative funding opportunities, streamline regulatory processes, build capacity and share knowledge with partners to facilitate a larger programme of restoration.
Defra has set up the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership in partnership with the Devolved Administrations to address evidence gaps that currently prevent the inclusion of blue carbon habitats in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI). Inclusion of these habitats in the GHGI will allow blue carbon to be marketed and traded as a carbon offset, leveraging private investment into these vital natural carbon stores.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 level of private investment in (a) terrestrial and (b) marine nature recovery in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, we are committed to monitoring progress against our target to raise £1bn in private finance into nature’s recovery in England every year by 2030.
The government has not produced an official annual estimate of private finance into nature’s recovery, as no reliable measures are yet in place. My department is developing a methodology for tracking this private finance. We will publish our first annual estimate, using this methodology, once data is available.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the target set in the Autumn Statement 2021 for private finance to support nature’s recovery, what proportion of the £1 billion relates to the marine environment.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to mobilising private finance into nature’s recovery in England against our target, both on land and at sea.
We have not set specific targets for the terrestrial and marine environment respectively.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation on Introducing a performance-based policy framework in large commercial and industrial buildings, which closed on 9 June 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Government paused the rollout of the operational energy rating pilot scheme but remains interested in exploring the role that operational ratings can play in supporting energy reduction within the wider landscape for decarbonising commercial and industrial buildings.
We continue to engage with stakeholders to understand more about potential options for moving the dial on reducing carbon emissions and Government’s role in this.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to respond to the consultation entitled Non-domestic Private Rented Sector minimum energy efficiency standards: EPC B implementation, published on 17 March 2021.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have reviewed the responses to our consultation on minimum energy efficiency standards in the non-domestic private rented sector. We are working hard to ensure the policy design remains fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants within the current economic climate and to help realise the benefits of energy efficiency, including reduced energy bills, more comfortable and healthier workplaces and greater energy security. We are continuing to engage with commercial building owners and representative groups to understand the different pathways to support decarbonisation and give certainty to the energy efficiency supply chain. We plan to publish the response in due course.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in the South West have been eligible for pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pre-implantation Genetic Testing (PGT) is used to identify genetic anomalies in embryos created through in-vitro fertilisation. Over 600 genetic conditions can currently be tested for using this technique, as licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. NHS England has commissioned five centres to provide PGT to patients in England. The number of PGT cycles undertaken has increased from 223 patients in 2009 to 620 in 2019, but NHS England does not have access to data that describes the geographical profile of the people that have used the National Health Service or privately commissioned PGT services.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 20th July 2023 to Question 194351 on Bus Services: Public Service Obligations, when his Department plans to issue new guidance on socially and economically necessary bus services.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department remains committed to publishing this guidance within this Parliament.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing further funding for Researchers at Risk Fellowships to be made available to Palestinian researchers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The current Researchers at Risk Fellowship Programme aims to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exposed Ukraine-based researchers and their dependents to direct threats. My Department is keeping the programme, which is delivered by the British Academy, under close review.