Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Department on the England Tree Strategy and its role in achieving the net zero target ahead of COP26.

The Environment Secretary attends the Climate Action Implementation Committee chaired by the COP President. The Secretary of State also attends the Climate Action Strategy Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister.

These committees consider matters relating to the delivery of COP26, net zero and building the UK's resilience to climate impacts and ensure the credibility and delivery of these plans. Trees are a key nature-based solution to climate change and biodiversity loss and are integral to our economy-wide net zero plans.

We committed in our manifesto to increasing planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025. To achieve this, we announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund to increase planting in England and will soon publish plans for how we will increase tree planting for nature, people, the economy and net zero.