Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Climate Change Committee’s report entitled Investment for a well-adapted UK, published on 1 February 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published in July 2023 and sets out how we are investing billions in projects to improve the UK’s climate resilience. This includes £5.2bn of investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes in England, and £2.4bn per annum until the end of this current Parliament on the Farming and Countryside Programme which supports and helps to drive practices that embed greater climate adaptation in England's agriculture. Where government has concerns about the level of investment in resilience we have acted swiftly. For example, through the recent Plan for Water we have accelerated £2.2bn of investment in measures to secure a resilient, clean and plentiful supply of water now and in the future.
The Government has also committed to support the flow of private finance into adaptation through the government’s 2023 Green Finance Strategy ‘Mobilising Green Investment’. This includes working with private sector partners to improve the approach to climate resilience assessment and disclosure, and supporting private and public collaboration to overcome barriers to investment and assist in the functioning of new markets.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential environmental impact and carbon emissions associated with the development of gas-fired power plants.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Renewables need to be complemented by flexible technologies which can provide power when the wind is not blowing, or the sun does not shine.
The Climate Change Committee’s independent analysis finds that a power sector without unabated gas in 2035 would be “likely to increase costs and delivery risks”. Their power sector analysis sees unabated gas providing around 2% of total electricity generation in 2035.
In the future, unabated gas plants will only run a limited number of hours per year, and we expect all new plants to be net zero ready.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of high ocean temperatures on marine biodiversity in UK waters.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, we are improving our understanding of the impact of climate change, including on sea temperature and marine biodiversity. Evidence suggests that increasing sea temperature is associated with a number of possible impacts on marine biodiversity, such as changes in the range, distribution and abundance of marine species, impacts on growth rates and size, and altered foodwebs due to the location of primary production and prey availability.
In the UK we are committed to ensuring that climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are fully considered and integrated in our marine and fisheries policies. The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) was published on 17 July 2023 and showcases our plans to adapt to and mitigate the risks of a warming climate on the marine environment, including to protect, restore and create blue carbon habitats and manage the risks and opportunities to marine species, habitats, and fisheries.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 make it his policy to coordinate a public engagement programme on adaptation including (a) the risks posed by climate change and (b) actions that individuals can take.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to hearing and learning from the views of different groups on how climate change impacts them, and how it can improve policies and programmes accordingly. The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) sets out the actions we will take across Government to manage the risks of climate change in the period to 2028. We are taking a dynamic approach to managing the delivery of NAP3, to learn from what works and to continue to develop our response based on the science and developing climate projections. This will be informed by engagement with stakeholders.
A public dialogue, overseen by Defra and in partnership with UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI’s) Sciencewise Programme, Ipsos and the University of Leeds, explored the public’s perspectives on climate adaptation and how they think the government, businesses and civil society should address it. 120 members of the public took part in four locations across England. The report of this project was published in July 2023 on the Sciencewise website. It can be accessed at: https://sciencewise.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Climate-Adaptation-Dialogue-Report.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor the safety of British ships crossing the Arctic Ocean as new shipping lanes become accessible as a result of climate change.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
His Majesty’s Government does not directly monitor the safety of British ships crossing the Arctic Ocean. However, ships transiting these waters will be monitored by those States that have Search and Rescue (SAR) responsibilities in the region.
With regards the safety of British ships in Arctic waters, the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) came into force 1 January 2017 and requires ships operating in the Polar regions to meet enhanced safety standards which reflect the additional risks associated with those regions. The UK applies these standards through a survey and certification regime to ensure that safety standards are met and that ships operating in polar regions apply the additional safety considerations that are considered necessary.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the press release entitled PM announces the UK will end support for fossil fuel sector overseas, published on 12 December 2020, how many fossil fuel-related investments British International Investment has divested away from since that date.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
All investment commitments made by British International Investment (BII) since December 2020 meet the conditions set out in BII's Climate Change Strategy and the UK Government's fossil fuel policy. BII publishes detailed metrics on portfolio-level exposure to carbon-related assets in their publicly available Annual Accounts. This is in line with TCFD-recommended disclosures. The latest data can be found at: https://www.bii.co.uk/annual-review-2022/publication/contents/templates/British_International_Investment_Annual_Review_2022.pdf. BII will release an update to these figures in the 2023 Annual Accounts, to be published later this year.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to increase climate funding available to drought-affected and flood-prone communities in the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building climate resilience is central to the UK's work in the Horn of Africa where flooding and drought have impacted tens of millions of people. UK funded organisations are working to address the immediate effects of climate change providing life-saving aid to millions. We are doing all we can to promote long-term climate resilience and as part of this to scale-up the provision of climate finances to the Horn of Africa. Last year's White Paper set out a bold vision for the UK's work on this agenda including a commitment to spend at least £1.5 billion globally in 2025 on climate adaptation.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the fall in overall domestic beef production resulting from the proposed changes in agricultural policies and payments.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The British beef sector is highly resilient and plays a significant role in the production of high- quality meat for both the domestic market and for export. It operates in an open market and the value of commodities is established by those in the supply chain. The government continues to work closely with the beef industry and to monitor the impacts of the range of commercial, environmental and market related factors which influence a farmer’s decision to rear beef.
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.
Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support healthcare facilities in developing countries to have clean water, decent toilets and better hygiene, as a cost-effective means for reducing the global infectious disease burden.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities, as part of our approach to Ending Preventable Deaths. Our £18.5m WASH Systems for Health programme will support governments in low- and lower-middle income countries to develop stronger systems crucial to the delivery of sustainable and climate resilient WASH services - a vital part of reducing the global infectious disease burden. Additionally, the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition, funded by the UK, trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements, and supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the humanitarian situation in Abyei town following internal displacement within the Abyei area, and what support they will offer to enable voluntary returns to villages in central and northern Abyei.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The people of Abeyi have suffered from terrible conflict and are now feeling the impact of climate change. We are working with the UN and humanitarian organisations in Sudan and South Sudan to address their humanitarian needs. We also continue to call on the Government of South Sudan and the Sudanese authorities to allow humanitarian actors to deliver aid in all parts of Abyei, without hindrance.