The Government has confirmed that Ministers will assess the
environmental impacts of all future UK free trade agreements
(FTAs), and has committed to assess how to deliver environmental
net gain in trade deals.
The commitments come as the Environmental Audit Committee
publishes the Government’s response to its report, The UK’s footprint on
global biodiversity.
Within the report, the Committee acknowledged the opportunity
leaving the EU has on promoting the highest environmental and
social standards in international trade deals. It recommended
that the Government should make good on its support for
environmental sustainability, and referenced evidence on the need
to accelerate towards sustainable supply chains. The Committee
therefore strongly welcomes the clear commitment made that –
unlike in the past – environmental impact will become a key
metric when evaluating future trade deals.
The Committee argued that the Government had a unique opportunity
to illustrate best practice in its own procurement to encourage
other organisations to follow. In the Government’s response, it
confirmed that it is to reinstate mandatory reporting on
sustainable procurement, and that the rules will now “apply to
more of the government estate than ever before”.
The second part of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) is
expected to be held in late spring. The Government has agreed
with the Committee that the UK’s negotiating position should
include: a commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by
2030; strengthen Goal A on species extinction to commit to
stopping human-induced extinctions; negotiate reference to
nature-based solutions in Target 8 on minimising the impact of
climate change on biodiversity; and address unsustainable
consumption and production within the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) text.
Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon MP, said:
“I am very pleased to see that the Government is taking
forwards a number of our Committee’s recommendations. This
reflects an important turning point in how seriously the
Government takes the UK’s responsibility for restoring global
biodiversity.
“Embedding nature protection in trade agreements not only
safeguards biodiversity, but it sends a striking message to
trading partners that this must be prioritised. The Government
should be commended for showing such leadership. At home, by
making sustainability a central tenet of its procurement choices,
the Government is showing other organisations that it is
possible. My committee looks forward to examining how these
commitments will be implemented.
“At a time when the Government is looking beyond the
pandemic, it is encouraging to see it is keen to keep up this
momentum on the importance of biodiversity and show leadership at
COP15 when the international community comes together, once more,
in the Spring.”
Notes to editors:
- ‘Environmental net gain’ is an approach to development that
aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better
state than beforehand.
- The Committee’s reports can be found on its website:
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