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 implement an immediate ban on the burning of upland peatland habitats in England, to prevent further losses of carbon and increase their resilience to climate change.

In the Net Zero Strategy, we committed to aim to restore approximately 280,000 ha of peatland in England by 2050, with the Nature for Climate Fund providing funding for the restoration of approximately 35,000ha of peatland by 2025. In the England Peat Action Plan, published last year, we set out the steps we will take to protect and restore our peatland.

The England Peat Action Plan can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-peat-action-plan

The Net Zero Strategy can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy