Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide translations of the consultation document and online survey on implementing due diligence on forest risk commodities, in order to aid those responding from source countries.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK Government published a consultation on 3 December 2021 to seek views on how the world-leading due diligence provisions introduced in the Environment Act should be implemented. The consultation will be open until 11 March 2022 and is available at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/international-biodiversity-and-climate/implementing-due-diligence-forest-risk-commodities/
Although the legislation will only apply to relevant businesses operating in the UK, the consultation is open to respondents across the world. We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders in the UK and internationally on the principles of our proposal, and to use their feedback to ensure that we design secondary legislation in the most effective way. Whilst we do not have plans to issue translations of the technical consultation document and online survey, Defra will continue to work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office to help ensure relevant stakeholders in other countries can engage effectively in the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the consultation on the use of snares will be launched that was announced in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare on 12 May.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
When used improperly, snares can cause immense suffering and we are looking at whether changes are needed to address these concerns. The call for evidence on the use of snares will be launched in due course, and this is an issue we are looking at closely as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to launch the increased Darwin Plus project funding for the UK Overseas Territories, as announced in the Budget on 11 March 2020.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We expect the increased Darwin Plus scheme to be launched later in 2021 with the first payments being made in 2022. Because of the increased funding we also expect to support a greater number of projects under the current Darwin Plus round. These projects will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to prevent, and (2) to monitor, fisheries bycatch to protect (1) porpoises, (2) dolphins, (3) whales, (4) seabirds, and (5) other species sensitive to the effects of bycatch; and what methods they intend to use to monitor such bycatch.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government funds Clean Catch UK which is a collaborative research programme dedicated to better monitoring, reducing, and, where possible, eliminating bycatch of sensitive species in UK fisheries. We are taking a risk-based approach to implementing this, focussing on fisheries which experience the highest rates of bycatch in the first instance. As a known hotspot for bycatch, work is already underway in the South West of England. We are currently undertaking trials for a range of mitigation measures in different fisheries along Cornwall’s south coast and will be looking to include more fisheries in this over the next 12 months.
The Government remains committed to monitoring and enforcing our fisheries so that we can manage them sustainably. As part of this, we continue to explore the potential uses of Remote Electronic Monitoring alongside other tools such as observer coverage and self-reporting apps.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of fisheries bycatch on the welfare of (1) porpoises, (2) dolphins, (3) whales, (4) seabirds, and (5) other species sensitive to the effects of bycatch; and what steps they are taking to prevent any negative effects caused by such bycatch.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which helps to protect sensitive marine species and to monitor and reduce any potential fisheries impacts on these species. The UK has an additional observer programme which collects data on fisheries catch and bycatch for scientific advice and management.
The Government also funds Clean Catch UK which is a collaborative research programme dedicated to better monitoring, reducing, and, where possible, eliminating the bycatch of sensitive marine species in UK fisheries.
In addition, we also fund the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, which conducts research on threats facing cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and whales) through carrying out post-mortems on stranded animals. We are about to let a new 10-year contract for this programme, which demonstrates our long-term commitment to monitoring and mitigating such threats, including bycatch.
These programmes all contribute to the assessment of bycatch on populations and associated welfare implications of sensitive marine species.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of bycatch on populations of (1) harbour porpoises, (2) common dolphins, (3) humpback whales, and (4) other species sensitive to the effects of bycatch.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which helps to protect sensitive marine species and to monitor and reduce any potential fisheries impacts on these species. The UK has an additional observer programme which collects data on fisheries catch and bycatch for scientific advice and management.
The Government also funds Clean Catch UK which is a collaborative research programme dedicated to better monitoring, reducing, and, where possible, eliminating the bycatch of sensitive marine species in UK fisheries.
In addition, we also fund the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, which conducts research on threats facing cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and whales) through carrying out post-mortems on stranded animals. We are about to let a new 10-year contract for this programme, which demonstrates our long-term commitment to monitoring and mitigating such threats, including bycatch.
These programmes all contribute to the assessment of bycatch on populations and associated welfare implications of sensitive marine species.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 14 January (HL Deb, cols 874–7), what plans they have to publish (1) the full application made by the National Farmers’ Union in 2020 for an emergency authorisation of the use the neonicotinoid product 'Cruiser SB' to treat sugar beet in 2021, and (2) any advice they received from the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides and Natural England in regard to that application.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The process for considering an emergency authorisation for a pesticide is set out in the legislation and includes consideration of potential risks to people and to the environment. The process was followed for this application and the Secretary of State decided that the criteria for an emergency authorisation have been met in this case. His decision was informed by assessments and advice from the Health and Safety Executive, the Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) and Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser. Natural England is sighted on emergency authorisation applications. No advice was requested or received on this application.
The information contained in applications made for emergency authorisations is not normally published. The ECP publishes the minutes of its discussions, and its advice on the Cruiser SB application is contained in the minutes from the 24 November 2020 meeting (attached to this answer and also available online at the following link):
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of sewage discharges into watercourses in England.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
As part of their planning for River Basin Management Plans the Environment Agency have assessed the impact of sewage discharges on the water environment, along with the impact from other sectors such as Agriculture. This assessment is published on gov.uk as part of the Environment Agency’s consultation on the choices and challenges associated with third cycle River Basin Planning for the Water Framework Directive which closed on 24 September 2020. The consultation can he found here:
There have been a number of improvements to sewage discharges over the last 25 years. For example sewage treatment works put 60% less phosphate and 70% less ammonia into the water environment than they did in 1995. The latest data from 2019 also suggests that 36% of water bodies in England are affected by pollution from sewage discharges.
This assessment has been used to inform the investment planning undertaken by the water industry which will see more than £4bn of environmental improvements implemented by them over the next 5 years. Many of these improvements are targeted at improving river water quality to support fisheries and improved habitats for wildlife.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of demand for water abstraction.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
On 16 March 2020, the Environment Agency published Meeting our Future Water Needs: a National Framework for Water Resources. The report is available on GOV.UK here. This report explores England’s long term water needs, setting out the scale of action needed to ensure resilient supplies and an improved water environment.
Key findings of the report show that if no action is taken between 2025 and 2050, around 3,435 million extra litres of water per day will be needed for public water supply. This includes:
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish details of the Nature for Climate fund announced in the 2020 Budget on 11 March.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund and are developing plans to deploy that funding in England over this parliament.
We will shortly publish a new England Peat Strategy and are consulting on a new England Tree Strategy. These will set out policies and programs to meet our manifesto commitments, driving up tree-planting and peat restoration, working together to address the combined climate and biodiversity crises.