Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (a) whether his Department has assessed the extent to which Defra’s proposed land use framework will utilise (i) nature-based carbon sequestration and (ii) bioenergy with carbon capture & storage technology (BECCS) to meet net zero targets; and (b) if he will publish modelling of the relative cost of meeting the UK’s 4th, 5th and 6th carbon budgets using different ratios of nature restoration and BECCS.

The Food Strategy stated that the Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England in 2023. This will set out principles to ensure food security is balanced alongside climate and environment outcomes. The Government is seeking to make the best use of the limited supply of land in England.

The Government’s approach to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage will be set out in the forthcoming biomass strategy.

The Net Zero Strategy set out a range of pathways to reaching net zero, and BEIS and Defra are working together to understand the interaction between our policies.