Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the report The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review,
published on 2 February.
(Con)
My Lords, at the start of an important year for global action to
tackle biodiversity loss and climate change, the Government thank
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta for his independent review and
welcome its publication. The review is a strong example of UK
thought leadership on an important environmental issue with clear
but often overlooked economic consequences. The Government will
examine the review’s findings and respond formally in due course.
The Deputy Speaker ()
(CB)
I call the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann—I beg your pardon. I call
the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott.
(CB)
[V]
My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for her reply. I am very
glad to hear that the Government welcome this extremely important
review, which looks at the loss of biodiversity through an
economic lens. But if we are indeed to act on this report, have
the Government assessed what mechanisms can be put in place to
ensure that the principles of the report are adhered to? For
example, will the Government include these measures in
departmental plans, government spending reviews and, indeed, all
future free trade agreements?
(Con)
My Lords, while the Government have only just received the
report, I reassure the noble Baroness that we are already taking
action to include some of these measures in our decisions. For
example, the 2020 Green Book and its supplementary guidance on
valuing natural capital and climate effects continues to take
significant and world-leading steps forward in appraising
environmental policies.
The Deputy Speaker ()
(CB)
I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, for getting the
order wrong. I now call the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann.
(Con)
My Lords, given that precious ecosystems are being existentially
endangered and that remedying the problems identified in this
brilliant report requires international co-operation, can my
noble friend explain how the recommendations will be incorporated
into the planning for COP 26 and our economic planning?
(Con)
My Lords, the Prime Minister has agreed five policy themes for
COP 26, and one of those is nature. In our nature campaign, we
are committed to protecting and restoring the natural habitats
and ecosystems on which climate, air, water and our way of life
depend. This year we also have COP 15, for biological diversity,
in China, which will be another important opportunity for global
action on biodiversity.
(CB) [V]
My Lords, the Public Accounts Committee’s recent excoriating
report said with regard to the Government’s record on the
environment that “progress is disappointing” and that the pace
has been “painfully slow”. Dasgupta also calls for transformative
change, and he suggests that financial actors and institutions
could help to drive this change—for instance, through transparent
measurement and disclosure that could influence investors. Does
the Minister agree, and, if so, does she think that the markets
alone will achieve the necessary radical change or that
government intervention is required?
(Con)
My Lords, I disagree with the PAC conclusions, but I agree about
the importance of the financial sector in making progress on this
issue. In December, the Chancellor announced the UK’s intention
to make climate-related financial disclosures mandatory across
our whole economy by 2025 and to have a significant portion of
mandatory requirements in place by 2023—becoming the first
country in the world to make these disclosures mandatory. This
will be an important step, but not the only step; we will also
need government action on this issue.
(Lab) [V]
My Lords, the report identifies the tripling of the world
population, from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7.6 billion in 2019, as a
major contributor to unsustainability. As well as the need to
look at family planning policies, Professor Dasgupta asks what
else the review should consider in developing options for change.
Is not voluntary euthanasia an option that could be considered?
Would the Government ask him to look at that? That would reduce
the numbers in the world.
(Con)
My Lords, that question has taken me into unchartered territory
on the topic of biodiversity. We will consider all the findings
of the review very carefully and come back in due course.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, Professor Dasgupta outlined that to protect 30% of the
world’s land and oceans by 2030 would require $140 billion
annually. Will the Government publish their assessment of the
investment required to meet the PM’s welcome commitment to
protect 30% here in the UK and assign that amount to the next
spending review?
(Con)
My Lords, as part of the spending review process, all departments
are required to look at their bids in terms of their commitment
to climate change and our targets in that respect. We have made a
number of commitments on UK progress towards protecting 30% of
our land and oceans by 2030, including additional funding at the
2020 spending review.
(Lab) [V]
My Lords, Sir Partha Dasgupta has produced a truly landmark
document which will fundamentally change life in many societies
in this world of climate change. The Agriculture Act 2020
provides us with one means of progressing with some of the
recommendations, but do the Government intend to press ahead and
integrate other findings of the report in the Environment Bill,
which they intend to introduce next year?
(Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord is correct in his assessment of the
importance of the Dasgupta review. I reassure him that some of
the measures in the review touch on areas where the Government
are already taking action. We will consider the findings of the
review carefully. The Environment Bill already contains
world-leading proposals, including for mandatory biodiversity net
gain for development, and I believe we will be taking it forward
this year.
(Con) [V]
My Lords, if we are to value nature in all that we do, then
nature needs to be part of our education system. Will my noble
friend therefore ask her friends in numbers 11 and 10 Downing
Street whether they will encourage the Department for Education
to give a fair wind to the very well worked out proposal from OCR
for a natural history GCSE, and will she let me know what they
say in response?
(Con)
My Lords, I will be very happy to undertake to make those
representations and will let the noble Lord know the response.
(CB)
[V]
My Lords, the oceans are surely the greatest asset—economically,
as well as in many other ways—both for the planet and for
humanity. Yet we have already depleted this asset by enabling
5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic to find their way
into these great waters. What are the Government’s latest plans
to prevent plastics reaching the oceans? Do they have a date when
plastic will no longer enter the oceans from this country? If so,
what is that date?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are taking world-leading action on
preventing the use of single-use plastics and their presence in
our ecosystem. That includes banning certain single-use plastics
and microbeads. I will come back to the noble Baroness on her
request for a date on the progress of those issues.
(Ind
Lab)
My Lords, what plans do the Government have to include the
financing of nature-based solutions as one of the objectives of
the national infrastructure bank to make sure that finance flows
to projects that will enhance our natural assets and encourage
nature’s recovery?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government set out our green finance strategy in
2019. It contained a host of measures that we are going to take
on green finance, including climate-related financial disclosure
and green-proofing our ODA spend. I will come back to the noble
Baroness on how that relates to the national infrastructure bank.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, this excellent report makes the point that conservation
is much more important to biodiversity than restoring land that
has been degraded. In the light of that, what will the Government
do about the destruction of ancient woodlands along the path of
HS2? Will the Minister also comment on whether now, in the face
of this report, they will restore the ODA spending for those
countries that cannot afford conservation, particularly in
sub-Saharan Africa?
(Con)
My Lords, our commitment on international funding for
climate-related projects and specifically for nature-based
solutions is unprecedented. I believe that we have committed £15
billion over the next spending period to help those countries in
the developing world ensure that they have nature-based solutions
to climate change.
