Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ratify the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions; when they expect to be able to ratify the Agreement; and what discussions they have had with international partners to encourage other countries to ratify it.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Work is in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement) into UK law before we can ratify the Agreement. Legislation will be taken forward when parliamentary time allows.
The UK continues to be proactive in supporting other, particularly developing, countries to implement and ratify the BBNJ Agreement. This includes contributing to the BBNJ Voluntary Trust Fund to enable participation by developing countries in UN discussions on preparatory work, and supporting the BBNJ Informal Dialogues, discussions that bring together participants from a wide range of countries online to discuss implementation. The UK also co-funded and organised a workshop for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to share best practice and support the implementation and ratification of the BBNJ Agreement in the Philippines in November 2023. The UK is supporting a Commonwealth Secretariat project to provide technical assistance on implementation and ratification to smaller Commonwealth countries.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Official Development Assistance has been spent on ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration and tree planting internationally in the last five years, and what proportion of Official Development Assistance is forecast to be spent in these areas in the next budget period.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Over the last five years (2018/19 - 2022/23) the UK spent £1,397 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on programmes that protected and restored nature, including £865 million specifically targeting forests. Between 2021/22 and 2025/26 the UK has pledged to spend at least £3 billion of our International Climate Finance (ICF) on restoring and protecting nature, including £1.5 billion on forests. Our latest results [UK International Climate Finance results 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)]show that between 2011 and 2023 UK ICF has avoided 413,000 hectares of ecosystem loss, and generated or protected ecosystem services valued at £5,302,000.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the amount of rosewood timber that is exported from West African countries such as Mali, The Gambia and Senegal; what steps they have taken to ban or control within UK markets the sale of products made from West African rosewood; and what steps they have taken to protect endangered wild species, including rosewood in West Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is currently contributing funding towards a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) study on the conservation and trade in rosewood tree species but does yet not have an assessment of rosewood timber exports. We have robust mechanisms in place through the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR), which prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the GB market and require operators - those first placing timber products on the market - to exercise due diligence. Those who trade in timber and timber products after they have been placed on the market are required to keep records of who they buy timber products from and any traders they sell them to. This enables timber and timber products to be traced.
The primary objective of the UKTR is to tackle illegal logging and to create a demand for legally harvested timber. Implementing the Regulations enables the protection of forests around the world, supporting the Government’s ambition to lead the world in environmental protection, end extreme poverty, and be at the forefront of action against global climate change.
The requirement to exercise due diligence under UKTR does not apply where a valid CITES permit accompanies the timber.
Rosewood species (Dalbergia and Guibourtia spp.) are listed on the CITES Appendices and so most rosewood timber imports into the UK will need a valid permit. Permit applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the UK CITES Management Authority, which will only issue permits if it has been possible to determine that the specimens to be imported were legally acquired and sustainably harvested.
The Government provides grants to a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to the protection of endangered wild species, including tackling illegal wildlife trade in West Africa, through the Biodiversity Challenge Funds. While these do not address rosewood in West Africa specifically, this has included empowering communities to protect their forests by the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, and supporting Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to monitor and halt illegal timber trade through DNA barcoding in Gabon and Congo (Brazzaville).
Further information on these examples and other projects supported by the Biodiversity Challenge Funds can be found at the websites of the Darwin Initiative and the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5477 on Darwin Initiative: Finance, how much grant funding has been provided to organisations with representatives on the Darwin Extra panel in the last three years; and what proportion of total grant funding this figure represents.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Darwin Extra applications are assessed by the Darwin Expert Committee which then makes recommendations to Defra on which grants to fund. The Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5477 noted that Darwin Expert Committee members have declared an interest in 13 of the 107 organisations awarded Darwin Initiative grants in the past 3 years. These 13 organisations were awarded Darwin Initiative grants with a combined value of £37.9m, which represents 49% of the £77m awarded under Rounds 27-29; these 13 organisations also unsuccessfully bid for a further £76.3m of grant funding in Rounds 27-29.
The Darwin Initiative requires an Expert Committee with up-to-date, practical knowledge of how to implement successful international development and conservation projects. Under its last three funding rounds, the Darwin Initiative received applications from 915 organisations. To not permit anyone with links to these organisations to serve on the Darwin Initiative’s Expert Committee could limit Defra’s ability to determine which proposed investments are most likely to succeed.
To ensure the independence of any advice provided by the Committee, Defra has in place a robust conflicts of interest policy, where members are required to declare their interests and recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have an interest. Decisions on which Darwin Initiative grants to award are taken by Defra.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total allowable catch level in English ports was for each shark species in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Two shark species are relevant here. The UK agrees an annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for British fishing boats for Spurdog, having reopened the fishery in 2023 following ICES advice. In 2023, the UK and EU agreed a total TAC of 15,453 t, with a UK quota of 2,781 t in the North Sea TAC management area and 4,825 t in the Western TAC management area. For 2024, the UK and EU agreed a total TAC of 15,900 t, with a UK quota of 2,862 t in the North Sea TAC management area and 5,809 t in the Western TAC management area.
The Total Allowable Catch level for Blue Shark is set by The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), and that TAC is allocated as quotas to the parties. 2021 was the first year that the UK had access to a quota for this species, which we use exclusively for bycatch. The UK’s quota was 9 tonnes in 2021, 32 tonnes in 2022 and 2023, and is 25 tonnes for 2024.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to conserve UK agrobiodiversity to prevent (a) genetic erosion and (b) species extinction.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are already implementing a set of targeted schemes to improve the environment and productivity. Investing in the natural environment will help us reduce future risks related to the loss of biodiversity. In 2024 in our combined Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship Scheme offer we are introducing new and updated actions to further support species recovery and management.
We are addressing conserving agrobiodiversity through our commitments to conserve genetic resources on under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Activities to protect and conserve livestock genetic resources also include encouraging sustainable breeding programmes through Zootechnical legislation, monitoring populations of pedigree livestock including native breeds which are published in an annual UK National Breed inventory and protecting eligible native breeds at risk from culling during notifiable disease outbreaks.
The Government recognises the important role local abattoirs play in supporting native breed farmers and the wider rural economy. In December 2023 Defra launched the £4 million Smaller Abattoir Fund to boost the sustainability and efficiency of red meat and poultry smaller abattoirs across England.
To conserve plant genetic resources for food and agriculture Defra funds three plant gene banks, the national collections for fruit, vegetables and peas, which conserve and provide access to plant genetic material.
In situ conservation of forest genetic resources has started to be delivered by voluntary designation of 17 gene conservation units by the Woodland Trust. Ex situ conservation of forest genetic resources has been achieved through both seed banking and by clone banks. The UK National Tree Seed Project, led by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has conserved seed collections of the UK native trees from populations across the UK. Forest Research and the Future Trees Trust have set up and mange clone banks for improved forestry material.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps with (a) international counterparts, (b) charities and (c) rangers to help tackle the poaching of elephants.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is committed to combatting the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). We are increasing our funding and will invest a further £30 million between 2022 and 2025.
Defra Ministers and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials at Posts regularly discuss important conservation matters including poaching of elephants. For example, the UK signed a letter of intent in December 2023 with Cameroon’s Minister of the Environment, Nature Protection, and Sustainable Development to deliver the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund.
Defra provides support for a variety of different projects that support rangers and protect elephants through the IWT Challenge Fund and direct programming, which are detailed below.
Information on total number of rangers is not available as we do not aggregate this data.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will list the organisations that received (a) Darwin and (b) Darwin Extra funding and are also represented on the Darwin expert panel in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Darwin Initiative website details successful grants applications and names its Expert Committee members, alongside their associated organisations.
Darwin Expert Committee members have declared an interest in 13 of the 107 organisations awarded Darwin Initiative grants in the past 3 years. Committee members must recuse themselves from the assessment of any application in which they have declared an interest.
The 13 organisations are: Bangor University, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, C3 Philippines, Fauna and Flora International, International Institute for Environment and Development, Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, The Nature Conservancy, United Nations Environment Programme, University of Oxford, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wide Fund for Nature UK and the Zoological Society of London.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will list conservation projects in the Congo Basin that have received government grants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In the last three year's His Majesty's Government has supported projects which have contributed towards conservation in the Congo Basin region, as follows:
Darwin Initiative. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/project-search/
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/project-search/
Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme has supported:
a. Africa Palm Oil Initiative (now renamed Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative), managed through ProForest. Covering Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon and the Republic of Congo (RoC).
b. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Djoum-Mintom landscape, Cameroon. This project is implemented by two partners: APIFED, an NGO promoting women's and indigenous people's rights and Ecotrading, an enterprise specialising in sustainable NTFP sourcing and trade.
Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme has supported projects on forest governance, legality, transparency and rights in the Congo Basin through a number of grants to leading non-governmental organisations
a. Client Earth (CE) - Using the law to address illegal use of forest resources and promote better forest and land governance. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
b. Chatham House (CH) - Strengthening Forest Governance - preparing for the next 10 years. Covered DRC. Ended December 2022.
c. University of Wolverhampton (CIDT) - Strengthening Forest and Wildlife Monitoring & Law Enforcement in the Congo Basin. Covered Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), DRC, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
d. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) - Strengthening forest governance through civil society monitoring and tracking illicit timber flows. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.
e. Fern - Consolidating good governance, tackling illegalities. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2023.
f. The Proforest Initiative (PF) - Using deforestation-free commodity supply chains to support national initiatives to combat forest loss. Covered Cameroon. Ended December 2022.
g. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) - Embedding community real time monitoring to sustain livelihoods and forests in Central and West Africa. Covered Cameroon, DRC and RoC. Covered June 2022.
h. Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) - Local to global: Leveraging lessons and opportunities from rightsholders to drive sustainable, equitable and inclusive climate action. Covered DRC and Gabon. Ended December 2022.
i. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
j. World Resource Institute (WRI) - Consolidating Forest Governance through Transparency and Accountability. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
k. WWF - Strengthened multilateral engagement and collaboration with China's timber and palm oil supply chains to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.
l. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) - Driving transparent, legal and sustainable forestry practices through financial, market and governance incentives. Covered Cameroon, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
m. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.
Further information can be found in the FGMC's Annual Review at https://iati.fcdo.gov.uk/iati_documents/D0001101.odt
The UK has also made contributions to the Central African Forests Initiative (CAFI), a UN multi-donor trust fund, annually since FY2021/22.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contracts relating to shipbuilding have been awarded to industry since the National Shipbuilding Office was launched; and what the total value of those contracts is.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since the launch of the National Shipbuilding Office in September 2021, the UK Government has awarded over £6.1 billion approximately in shipbuilding contracts.
Programme | Contract Type | Value | Shipyard | Notes |
Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability Increment 1 | Procurement - competition | £100 million | Awarded to Babcock-led partnership with Elbit Systems UK and QinetiQ on 01 Nov 2021 | To fit Radar Electronic Support Measures with an EW Command & Control system to T26 and T31 (as well as T45 & QEC). |
NavyX, Ministry of Defence | Procurement - off the shelf vessel (international competition) | £7.5 million Overseas £2 million to UK companies for conversion | Awarded to Damen Shipyards (Netherlands) on 10 February 2022 | Vessel not included on 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh |
Queen Elizabeth Class Docking, Ministry of Defence | Support (UK-only competition) | £34 million | Awarded to Babcock (UK) on 15 March 2022 |
|
Type 26 Batch 2, Ministry of Defence | Build (single source) | £4.2 billion | Awarded to BAE Systems (UK) on 15 November 2022 |
|
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | Support (international competition) | £45 million | Awarded to Babcock (UK) on 10 December 2022 |
|
Northern Lighthouse Board, General Lighthouse Authority, Department for Transport (DfT) | Build (international competition) | £51.8 million via a DfT loan which will be repaid via Light Dues, with interest and no call on the UK Exchequer | Awarded to Astilleros Gondán S.A (Spain) on 12 December 2022 | Includes £2 million of contracts with UK Supply Chain |
Fleet Solid Support Ships | Build (international competition) | £1.6 billion | Awarded to Team Resolute comprised of Navantia UK, Harland & Wolff and BMT on 18 Jan 2023. |
|
Type 31 mission systems test and integration facility | Support (UK-only competition) | £70 million | Thales UK on 9 May 2023 | The contract will provide equipment and technical services into the Type 31 Mission System Shore Integration Facility at Portsdown Technology Park, Portsmouth. |
North Eastern Guardian III replacement, patrol and research vessel, North East Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (local government and DEFRA) | Build (international contract) | £5.54 million | Parkol Marine, Whitby, awarded on 11 August 2023. | The Northeast Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority are largely funded by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and part funded by DEFRA. |
1 The table covers central Government shipbuilding and repair contracts and those of Arms Length Bodies in line with the National Shipbuilding Office’s remit, and does not include those funded solely by local councils.