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 potential merits of the protection and restoration of peat moss in achieving net carbon neutrality for the UK.

Recently published Government research identified that the emissions from UK peatlands range from 18.5 to 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. Peatland restoration is therefore a key way to mitigate emissions and will play an important role in achieving net carbon neutrality in the UK. We will publish an England Peat Strategy later this year which will set out our approach to protecting and restoring peat.