Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to continue providing dedicated environmental support to the UK Overseas Territories through the Darwin Plus programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Darwin Plus programme has invested more than £64 million across nearly 400 environmental projects of benefit to the UK Overseas Territories since 2012. These include projects to increase the Territories’ resilience by responding to, mitigating and adapting to climate change and its effects on the natural environment and local communities.
An independent evaluation in 2022 found that Darwin Plus projects have reduced key threats to the Territories’ natural environments, including climate change. An impact analysis of Darwin Plus projects in 2025 has since estimated that Darwin Plus projects have:
Project applicants for Darwin Plus Local Round 6, which closed on 29 December, will be kept informed of developments. Updates on further future funding rounds will be published on the Darwin Plus website in due course.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for environmental outcomes in the UK Overseas Territories of any interruption to the Darwin Plus programme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Darwin Plus programme has invested more than £64 million across nearly 400 environmental projects of benefit to the UK Overseas Territories since 2012. These include projects to increase the Territories’ resilience by responding to, mitigating and adapting to climate change and its effects on the natural environment and local communities.
An independent evaluation in 2022 found that Darwin Plus projects have reduced key threats to the Territories’ natural environments, including climate change. An impact analysis of Darwin Plus projects in 2025 has since estimated that Darwin Plus projects have:
Project applicants for Darwin Plus Local Round 6, which closed on 29 December, will be kept informed of developments. Updates on further future funding rounds will be published on the Darwin Plus website in due course.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to ring fence fencing funding previously allocated to the Darwin Plus programme for environmental protection projects in the UK Overseas Territories.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Darwin Plus programme has invested more than £64 million across nearly 400 environmental projects of benefit to the UK Overseas Territories since 2012. These include projects to increase the Territories’ resilience by responding to, mitigating and adapting to climate change and its effects on the natural environment and local communities.
An independent evaluation in 2022 found that Darwin Plus projects have reduced key threats to the Territories’ natural environments, including climate change. An impact analysis of Darwin Plus projects in 2025 has since estimated that Darwin Plus projects have:
Project applicants for Darwin Plus Local Round 6, which closed on 29 December, will be kept informed of developments. Updates on further future funding rounds will be published on the Darwin Plus website in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues to determine the extent that her Department's policies on ambient air quality are interacting with policies on climate change mitigation, nature recovery and land use planning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s ambient air quality policy is delivered within the wider framework of the Environmental Improvement Plan, which sets out commitments to improve air quality, restore nature and support climate objectives. The plan highlights that actions to tackle air pollution such as reducing emissions, support nature recovery and contribute to resilience against climate change.
Air quality is also a material consideration in planning decisions and Government policy is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
I will continue to work collaboratively with colleagues across government to ensure we take a joined-up, holistic approach.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department's ambient air quality policy is interacting with climate change mitigation, nature recovery and land use planning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s ambient air quality policy is delivered within the wider framework of the Environmental Improvement Plan, which sets out commitments to improve air quality, restore nature and support climate objectives. The plan highlights that actions to tackle air pollution such as reducing emissions, support nature recovery and contribute to resilience against climate change.
Air quality is also a material consideration in planning decisions and Government policy is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.
I will continue to work collaboratively with colleagues across government to ensure we take a joined-up, holistic approach.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths related to climate change in each county in England.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Lord Foster of Bath
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
04 February 2026
Dear Lord Foster,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of deaths related to climate change in each county in England (HL14056).
The ONS published Climate-related mortality, England and Wales: 1988 to 20221 in 2023. This release used climate and mortality data from 1988 to 2022 to analyse temperature-related mortality in England and Wales. The analysis estimates the relative risk, numbers and rates of death per 100,000 population associated with changing temperatures, based on a statistical model. Publication of updated estimates based on an enhanced statistical model and including data up to 2025 is provisionally planned for mid-2026.
Data is available for each English region and for Wales. However, data is not available by individual county in England.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of domestic thatch growers on the future of the industry.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There are approximately 25,000 listed thatched buildings in England, many more are unlisted. These buildings are a quintessential part of some of our best loved rural landscapes.
Historic England, the government’s statutory advisor on heritage, carried out research into the thatching industry and domestic supply of material for thatching historic buildings. A 2024 report estimates that 80% of cereal straw grown for thatching in England is produced by around 25 English growers. In Historic England’s view, it is not necessarily the number of domestic growers that impacts the future of the industry, but their wider challenges such as mechanisation, climate and the wider supply chain.
In response to their research, Historic England updated their guidance on the conservation of traditional thatch in 2025 enabling a change of thatch materials in times of shortage and in cases in urgent need of repair. This update aims to provide confidence to decision makers to grant listed building consent whilst helping to maintain support for the straw-growing sector. To disseminate its latest guidance, Historic England is holding a free workshop for thatching-straw growers in April 2026 with further research into mechanisation solutions for growers planned later this year.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount spend on railway flood defences and embankment maintenance by (1) South Western Railway, and (2) Great Western Railway, in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has not carried out any assessments as described in the Noble Lord’s questions. Train Operating Companies, including South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, are not responsible for managing or maintaining railway infrastructure and have not incurred any expenditure on flood defences or embankment maintenance.
Network Rail has robust plans in place to improve and maintain infrastructure. The Wales & Western Region will see a £2.6 billion asset renewals programme and £1.6 billion invested to maintain existing assets and the Southern Region will see an investment of over £3 billion in infrastructure during the current Control Period to 2029.
It is also addressing severe weather events through comprehensive weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans, focusing on safeguarding assets, embedding resilience into daily operations, and adapting to climate change impacts across both the Wales & Western and Southern routes.
An example is the extensive works being implemented at Chipping Sodbury on the Great Western Main Line to mitigate the impact of flooding from both surface water and groundwater. The work already completed has improved the level of resilience from closure due to rainfall. Network Rail is funding further work at this location during the current Control Period to 2029.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resilience against flooding and landslips on embankments along the railway lines of (1) South Western Railway, and (2) Great Western Railway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has not carried out any assessments as described in the Noble Lord’s questions. Train Operating Companies, including South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, are not responsible for managing or maintaining railway infrastructure and have not incurred any expenditure on flood defences or embankment maintenance.
Network Rail has robust plans in place to improve and maintain infrastructure. The Wales & Western Region will see a £2.6 billion asset renewals programme and £1.6 billion invested to maintain existing assets and the Southern Region will see an investment of over £3 billion in infrastructure during the current Control Period to 2029.
It is also addressing severe weather events through comprehensive weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans, focusing on safeguarding assets, embedding resilience into daily operations, and adapting to climate change impacts across both the Wales & Western and Southern routes.
An example is the extensive works being implemented at Chipping Sodbury on the Great Western Main Line to mitigate the impact of flooding from both surface water and groundwater. The work already completed has improved the level of resilience from closure due to rainfall. Network Rail is funding further work at this location during the current Control Period to 2029.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the five biggest allocations of funding for nature from International climate finance were in each year between 2021-22 and 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The five biggest allocations of funding for nature in each year between 2021-22 and 2024-25 are shown in the tables below, one for each financial year. 2025-26 figures are not yet available as accounts have not yet been finalised:
Programme Number | Programme title | Nature - FY21- 22 Spend |
ICF-0040-MFF (DESNZ) | Mobilising Finance for Forests | £51.1m |
ICF-0005-GCF (DESNZ) | Green Climate Fund (GCF) | £43.7m |
300856 (FCDO) | Green Climate Fund First Replenishment | £40.7m |
201724 (FCDO) | Forest Governance, Markets and Climate | £21.1m |
300057 (FCDO) | Global Environment Facility 7th replenishment | £15.0m |
Programme Number | Programme title | Nature - FY22-23 Spend |
300856 (FCDO) | Green Climate Fund First Replenishment | £109.6m |
ICF-0004-CIF (DESNZ) | New Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) BC - Nature Based Solutions | £65.0m |
301516 (FCDO) | UKSIP - The UK Sustainable Infrastructure Programme Latin America | £23.8m |
201724 (FCDO) | Forest Governance, Markets and Climate | £23.6m |
202745 (FCDO) | Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use | £21.5m |
Programme Number | Programme title | Nature - FY23-24 Spend |
300856 (FCDO) | Green Climate Fund First Replenishment | £163.6m |
ICF-0049-AF (DESNZ) | Amazon Fund (REDD+) | £54.6m |
301268 (FCDO) | Global Environment Facility 8th Replenishment | £53.8m |
ICF-0019-REM (DESNZ) | REDD Early Movers Programme (REM) | £30.0m |
ICF-0040-MFF (DESNZ) | Mobilising Finance for Forests | £27.5m |
Programme Number | Programme title | Nature - FY24-25 Spend |
ICF-0053-SCALE1 (DESNZ) | Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) - Pillar One | £153.9m |
400173 (FCDO) | Green Climate Fund - 2nd replenishment | £90.8m |
300958 (FCDO) | IDA | £85.0m |
ICF-R&D (DESNZ) | BEIS Research & Development Climate Finance | £34.7m |
ICF-GCRF (DESNZ) | Ayrton Fund BEIS R&D: Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) | £32.4m |