Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to take forward the spirit and substance of the Climate and Nature Bill.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the climate and nature crises. Though there is already a well-developed legislative framework in place, the Government agreed to several actions reflecting the spirit and substance of the Climate and Nature Bill, including an annual statement on the State of Climate and Nature.
On July 14 2025 the Secretary of State for the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security, alongside Defra’s Secretary of State, delivered this first of-its-kind statement, setting out with radical transparency the scale of the crises and how the choices we make influence global action. The written statement notes further steps taken on nature restoration, consumption emissions, public participation and collaboration between the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Climate Change Committee.
This Government has restored the UK as an international leader on climate change and is reversing nature’s decline after years of neglect. In this year’s Spending Review, we secured the largest investment in clean power in a generation and record funding for nature restoration.
The Government’s climate and nature priorities and policies will be further set out this year in a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, updated delivery plan for Carbon Budgets 4-6 and our Nationally Determined Contributions, Net Zero Public Participation Strategy, Food Strategy, Farming Roadmap, and Land Use Framework.
Asked by: Satvir Kaur (Labour - Southampton Test)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ratify the Global Oceans Treaty.
Answered by Catherine West
The Government is completely committed to ratification 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 (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Ocean Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation will be introduced by the end of the year to enable ratification of the Agreement.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 15 May 2025 to Question 50987 on Cheetahs: Hunting, how species of conservation concern will be determined.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Species of conservation concern is determined in the criteria set out under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES lists species in its Appendices according to the level of threat international trade has on their conservation status, with Appendix I being the most threatened species.
A species may be listed in CITES Appendix I and II if it meets certain criteria, such as:
- a small or declining wild population,
- high vulnerability to external factors,
- fragmented population..
This criteria is set out in CITES Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP17).
In the UK, CITES is implemented by the Wildlife Trade Regulations (WTRs), with Annexes A and B of the WTRs broadly corresponding to CITES Appendices I and II.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that any future sanitary and phytosanitary veterinary agreement with the EU supports the role of zoos and aquariums in international conservation breeding programmes.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We continue to work with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to address immediate challenges regarding EU trade– such as the availability of Export Health Certificates and Border Control Post capacity. However, our primary focus is on securing a long-term, sustainable solution through a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement with the EU.
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, aimed at reducing trade barriers to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of goods, including terrestrial and aquatic zoo animals. With the principles and framework of a deal agreed, we will now negotiate the detail of an agreement that reduces administrative burden by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework.
Ministers have actively engaged with the zoo and wildlife sector through multiple visits and discussions to understand its challenges and opportunities. This dialogue will continue as we work together to support ongoing improvements
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what lessons from international heritage restorations, such as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, have informed the planning, public engagement and delivery models for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The R&R Programme has been engaging with and learning lessons from other major international heritage restoration projects.
Several other parliaments are undergoing or have recently completed renovation programmes of their buildings, for example the Canadian, Dutch, and Austrian parliaments. The R&R Programme maintains a dialogue with these other parliaments to learn lessons for our own restoration programme. One way it does this is through the International Network of Parliamentary Properties (INPP), an umbrella organisation of international parliaments which is dedicated to the conservation, restoration, rehabilitation and development of parliamentary estates. The INPP holds an annual conference and regular online seminars to share key lessons, which R&R officials routinely attend to learn best practice in how to plan, engage on, and deliver complex projects in a parliamentary context.
The R&R Programme has also learnt lessons from other non-parliamentary international heritage buildings, including a visit to the 400-year old stock exchange building in Copenhagen (after it was partially destroyed by a fire during refurbishment in 2024) to learn about matters such as fire risk during renovation and emergency preparedness. R&R officials also held a lessons-learned event about the Notre Dame restoration in May 2025 to understand better how the restoration works to the Cathedral were project managed, the use of technology in the project (such as the creation of a digital model) and the associated public engagement strategy.
Officials and Board members involved with R&R have also visited heritage restoration projects across the UK, such as Buckingham Palace and Manchester Town Hall, to learn lessons that are being practically applied during the planning stages of R&R, for instance in relation to surveys and engaging with the supply chain.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 (a) support and (b) incentivise the adoption of (i) lower impact and (ii) highly selective fishing methods in UK waters; and whether he plans to reform the gear approval process to reduce barriers to innovation.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We strongly support the use of gear that is more selective and which lowers the environmental impacts. We have been promoting this through a number of routes, including fisheries funding, measures introduced through annual consultations and negotiations with the EU and other coastal states, and through our Fisheries Management Plan programme. The Seafish Industry Authority (“Seafish”) are currently looking at how to overcome barriers to the adoption of new gear. In order to achieve maximum conservation benefits, and to be in line with international best practice, it is crucial that any approval processes are robust and are based on the best available scientific evidence.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government is completely committed to ratification 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 (BBNJ Agreement) which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation will be introduced by the end of the year to enable ratification of the BBNJ Agreement. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has worked with the Commonwealth Secretariat to support smaller member countries with their implementation work, and the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs has published research to develop a shortlist of potential Area-Based Management Tools, including Marine Protected Areas that could be proposed once the Agreement is in force.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their plan and timetable for ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government is completely committed to ratification 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 (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Ocean Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation will be introduced by the end of the year to enable ratification of the BBNJ Agreement.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the impact of light pollution on wildlife and people.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following publication of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s report, ‘Artificial light in the environment’ in 2009, Defra has supported assessments of impacts of artificial light on insects and on other wildlife such as bats. These are published on our science website.
Defra has also funded or co-funded national and international assessments of the drivers of change on insects and wider biodiversity such as the global IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production (2016), which notes that the effect of light on nocturnal insects may be growing and identifies the need for further study.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out how the possible ecological impacts of artificial light should be considered in the planning system. It makes clear that policies and decisions should limit the impact of light pollution on local amenity, dark landscapes and nature conservation, including where there may be impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. Defra has contributed to associated guidance published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Government recognises that artificial light offers valuable benefits for safety and amenity. Defra works closely with colleagues across Government whose policy areas affect the use of artificial light.
The Government has put in place a range of measures to ensure that light pollution is effectively managed through the statutory nuisance regime. Under the Environmental Protection Act local authorities have a duty to investigate complaints about light emitted from premises which could constitute a nuisance or be harmful to health and have powers to take action where there is a problem.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk posed by the illegal wildlife trade to emerging infectious diseases.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Most recently, Defra funded an assessment of the zoonotic potential of trade in species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - https://hub.jncc.gov.uk/assets/964ae259-410e-4205-8ec7-e2c54f5c6e3d. This assessment was developed in conjunction with a study by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Study scopes potential of global wildlife trade to harbour zoonotic disease - UNEP-WCMC.
The UK also has in place robust measures to support our ability to understand, detect, prevent, respond and recover from disease outbreaks. This includes established systems to monitor for new and emerging biosecurity threats such as our Veterinary Risk Group (VRG) and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) Group.