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 IPBES-IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change on the role of grasslands in supporting climate resilience, biodiversity and sustainable farming and research demonstrating that a third of the world’s terrestrial carbon is stored in permanent grasslands, if he will make it his policy to seek international recognition and protections for grasslands as a nature-based solution to climate change at the forthcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP26.

Recognising and protecting the vital role of nature in adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change is a top priority of our COP26 Presidency. It will not be possible to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees without radical action on nature and land-use. That is why we are working with countries to showcase the potential of nature-based solutions across many ecosystems to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss at COP26.

The UK is advocating for the protection of at least 30% of the land and at least 30% of the ocean globally by 2030. Effective protection, management, and restoration of protected areas, such as grasslands, can serve as a good example of a nature-based solution.

We also recognise the value of our own grasslands. In England, our Sites of Special Scientific Interest protect our most important grasslands, which will also form an important part of our domestic 30x30 commitment. We are supporting grassland creation and restoration, including through our Green Recovery Challenge Fund. In addition, as part of our new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme pilots, three grassland standards will be piloted before the roll out of the scheme’s core elements begins in 2022.