The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr
Thérèse Coffey) With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will update
the House on the outcomes of COP15 on the convention on
biodiversity, which was held in Montreal and from which I have just
returned. For too long, nature has been overlooked as the
Cinderella of the story, but flora and fauna are important in and
of themselves. Nature is both the essential foundation and a
powerful engine of our economy,...Request free trial
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Dr Thérèse Coffey)
With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will update the House on
the outcomes of COP15 on the convention on biodiversity, which
was held in Montreal and from which I have just returned.
For too long, nature has been overlooked as the Cinderella of the
story, but flora and fauna are important in and of themselves.
Nature is both the essential foundation and a powerful engine of
our economy, and helping nature to recover is one of the most
cost-effective ways of tackling so many challenges, including the
causes and impacts of climate change, thirst, hunger and ill
health. and of bolstering peace and prosperity.
Early this morning, the world came together to secure the strong,
ambitious global framework we need to catalyse a decade of
environmental action. The framework is on the scale of the Paris
agreement, as required, and puts nature firmly on the map. The
agreement includes global targets to protect at least 30% of the
world’s land and at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030, and to
see natural systems restored, species populations recovering and
extinctions halted. It includes reporting and review mechanisms
that will hold us all to account for making timely progress on
bringing our promises to life, and commitments on digital
sequence information to make sure communities in nature-rich
countries feel the benefit of sharing the solutions that we know
their flora and fauna can provide.
Behind the scenes, over many months, we have been working with
Ecuador, Gabon and the Maldives to develop the credible 10-point
plan for financing biodiversity during this decade that played a
critical role in getting the agreement over the line, by giving
nature-rich countries confidence in our collective willingness
and ability to secure the investment needed to protect the
natural wonders on which their people and, in many cases, the
whole world depends. On the back of those efforts, public,
private and philanthropic donors committed billions of dollars to
new investment in nature.
The agreement includes commitments to create a new international
fund for nature, to increase investment in nature from all
sources to $30 billion a year by 2030, and to accelerate the
vital shifts that are already under way to make sure our
economies underpin our survival and our success. I thank our team
of Ministers and pay tribute to all our UK civil servants from
across Government and our world-leading scientists from a range
of British institutions, including Kew Gardens and the Joint
Nature Conservation Committee.
We have been on this journey since the CBD COP14 in Egypt in
2018, which I attended. In meetings with delegations from around
the world, time and again, we heard praise for how the UK’s
world-class negotiators helped to broker this agreement. We know
from our experience here in the UK that, when we set ambitious
targets, we see an acceleration in action to meet them across
Government, sectors and communities, which is why we have worked
so hard to secure these global targets.
Just before I set off for Canada, I announced that we have taken
the next steps towards leaving the environment in a better state
than we found it, by putting a set of new stretching domestic
targets into UK law under the Environment Act 2021 on air, water
and waste, as well as nature, land and sea, to improve the state
of the environment in our country. These targets will be
challenging to meet, but they are achievable. The global
coalitions of ambition that we have been leading, co-leading and
supporting will now shift towards supporting the implementation
of the new international nature agreement.
The UK is committed to playing our part now and in the months and
years ahead. Although no country can solve this alone, if we work
together to make this a decade of action, we not only stand to
avoid the worst impacts but, by securing the abundance, diversity
and connectivity of life on Earth, we stand to build a better
future for every generation to come.
I commend this statement to the House.
5.04pm
(Leeds North West)
(Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her
statement. The agreement signed in Montreal this morning to
protect 30% of the planet for nature and restore 30% of the
planet’s degraded ecosystems is welcome news. That we are to
protect a minimum of 30% of land and 30% of our seas is a
benchmark we must adhere to, to avoid ecosystem collapse.
I was glad to be part of the UK’s delegation to COP15. The
Secretary of State used her spot on the global stage to announce
the UK’s environmental targets—the ones where she missed her own
legally binding deadline in October. I note that the Secretary of
State did not announce the delayed targets to the House first in
the proper way, and I think that speaks volumes. We are still to
have an oral statement on those targets.
It is astonishing then, that after all the warm words, the
Government’s own targets do not include a 30% goal for protecting
nature. The Secretary of State compared nature with Cinderella.
If that is the case, the right hon. Members for Camborne and
Redruth (), for North East Hampshire
(Mr Jayawardena) and for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) must be the
cruel stepsisters who have neglected her during their time in
charge.
The Government also failed to include overall measures for water
quality and protected sites in their targets. The reality of the
Secretary of State’s watered-down targets means that our country
and our communities will face even more toxic air and more sewage
dumping for longer. A cynic’s view might be that the Government
are happy to commit to non-legally binding targets in Montreal,
while shirking any real responsibility at home. Ambitious
environmental leadership means, at the very least, ensuring clean
air, clean water and access to nature. It does not matter how the
Government try to dress it up, their targets do not go anywhere
near far enough and it is our communities that will suffer as a
result.
Rivers in England are used as open sewers. Not one is in a
healthy condition, and only 14% meet good ecological standards.
With no overall water quality targets, the Conservatives can
continue to allow raw sewage to flow into our natural environment
hundreds of thousands of times a year. How does that fit with our
Montreal commitments? Only Labour has a proper plan to clean up
our waterways. We will introduce mandatory monitoring with
automatic fines, hold water bosses personally accountable for
sewage pollution and give regulators the power to properly
enforce the rules.
One in five people in the UK live with a respiratory condition,
such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which
are worsened by breathing toxic air. We know that is especially
dangerous for children and vulnerable adults, and I am extremely
concerned by the unambitious targets for air quality set out by
the Government. Labour is committed to tackling this health
crisis once and for all with a clean air Act, including the right
to breathe clean air, monitoring and tough new duties on
Ministers to make sure that World Health Organisation clean air
guidelines are kept.
Of the 20 UN biodiversity targets agreed to in 2010, the UK has
missed 17. When it comes to the environment, the Government
constantly make the wrong choices, delay vital action and duck
the urgent challenges. Failure to deliver on environmental
targets at home show that their promises at COP15 mean very
little. The Secretary of State’s colleague at COP, , described the UK as one of
the “most nature-depleted countries” on the planet. The
Environment Act 2021 target on species abundance, which the
Government were forced to concede by Opposition amendments,
promises only to “halt” the decline in species by 2030. How does
that now sit with our Montreal commitments? It is clear from the
Secretary of State’s watered-down environmental targets that this
Conservative Government have given up on governing.
Dr Coffey
I have never heard such rubbish from the Opposition. I am really
quite sad about that. For a start, let us just get it clear: it
was good that the hon. Member went to Montreal, but he was not a
member of the UK Government’s delegation. I am glad that he went
anyway, as did other Members. At the first opportunity after
getting clearance for the targets, I did inform Parliament, and a
written ministerial statement was laid in the Lords on Friday
before I made a short announcement when I was in Montreal.
I am very clear that this agreement would genuinely not have been
as strong had it had not been for the efforts of the UK
Government. Even this morning, in the dark hours in Montreal, the
text was reopened at our insistence to make sure that the
depletion of nature was included in the text of what was agreed.
At the same time, we have been working tirelessly, day in, day
out, during this negotiation to make sure that we secured
finances, because I am conscious that many nature-rich countries
around the world need that financial support to make sure that
nature is restored.
In terms of what we are planning to do here in the UK, frankly,
nature has been depleted ever since the industrial revolution.
That has recently been more recognised, and that is why it was
this Government who put in place the Environment Act 2021. By the
way, that builds on a number of environment Acts that previous
Conservative Administrations have put in place, recognising the
importance of legislation, but also delivery.
The hon. Gentleman refers to the air quality target. The only
reason why we have kept what we consulted on—10 micrograms per
cubic metre for PM2.5by 2040—is because the Labour Mayor in
London is failing to deliver it. I am absolutely confident that
in the rest of the country it can be delivered by 2030, but that
is why we will continue to try to make sure that air quality is a
priority for Mayors and councils right around the country.
As for moving forward, almost every statutory instrument has now
been laid today. There was a slight delay on one of them, but I
expect those SIs to be considered by both Houses of Parliament
next month. They will come into law. Meanwhile, we continue to
work on our environmental improvement plan and making sure that
the environment will be a better place than it was when we
inherited it.
(West Suffolk) (Ind)
Will the Secretary of State say a few words about the need not
only to stop the diminution across the world of biodiversity,
but, ultimately, to get to a place where the expansion of nature
can once again happen? That is a long way off. But is it not true
that UK Government leadership on this issue has just delivered a
major landmark step forward and we should all, across this House,
be proud of the effort the team has put in, in order to make as
much progress as this? In the international arena it is hard to
get big agreements, and the Secretary of State has just got
one.
Dr Coffey
I thank my right hon. Friend for that. We both represent the
magnificent county of Suffolk, which is why we are trying to make
sure we continue that improvement of nature. I believe he is a
champion for dormice and I am a champion for bitterns, and we
have seen improvements in the habitats for both animals. On a
long-term situation such as the environment, it is crucial that
the House comes together to recognise the importance of what has
been achieved and give credit, particularly to our civil
servants, for that achievement. We also need to recognise the
challenges ahead for Governments, local councils and industry,
and for individual choices that people make, in what we are
trying to do to not only protect, but enhance, restore and
improve the environment, which we enjoy.
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for advance sight of her
statement. Whether it is local schools such as St Paul’s Primary
School in Shettleston having a focus on biodiversity in the
school garden or global summits such as COP15, we all have our
part to play. So we on these Benches welcome any progress made at
COP15.
Scotland’s new biodiversity strategy includes the COP15 target of
halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and goes further, with a target
of restoring biodiversity by 2045. So will the British Government
likewise produce a new biodiversity strategy, one that matches
both the COP15 and Scottish targets? Ministers in Holyrood have
recognised that the climate and biodiversity crises are
inextricably linked, and that one cannot be tackled while the
other is ignored. Does the Secretary of State agree with that,
and agree that decisions to increase fossil fuel production and
use will only accelerate biodiversity loss?
The Scottish Government led the UK in recognising the
biodiversity crisis and have now led the UK in establishing a
dedicated £65 million nature restoration fund. Will the British
Government follow that example and create a dedicated
biodiversity restoration fund for England? Finally, concerns have
been raised about the sidelining of African states at the very
end of the COP15 process, and the overruling of their calls for
dedicated funding to support biodiversity efforts. Does the
Secretary of State share our deep concern at global south nations
being ignored? Does she agree that those who face the brunt of
the climate and biodiversity crises must be heard in global
climate negotiations?
Dr Coffey
I thank the hon. Gentleman. The Scottish Minister, , was out in Montreal as well,
and it is really important that the UK works together to improve
nature. I give credit to Scotland in that regard.
However, I say to the hon. Gentleman that we already have
established funding, with the nature for climate fund, and
through the blue planet fund we have already undertaken a number
of investments that will improve nature, not only in this
country, but around the world. I am particularly thinking of
Commonwealth countries, but this also applies to overseas
territories and the south, to which he refers. That is why the
importance of the £30 billion funding that will go in was
discussed back and forth, and the UK was very happy to make sure
that it got delivered. We recognise the need to ensure
significant investment all around the world and that value is
attributed to nature as much as it is to climate, if not even
more so. Candidly, we can do as much as we like on tackling
climate change, but if we do not preserve and restore nature, it
will effectively be for nought. That is why we have put so much
work into doing this. It is why, at COP27 in Egypt, our Prime
Minister set out the importance of restoring nature, saying that
it was critical in terms of tackling climate change. The hon.
Gentleman may be aware of our environmental land management
scheme. We have started the first phase of the sustainable
farming incentive, and we will be announcing more early in the
new year as we make the transition from the traditional European
funding, which is effectively area-based—on how much land people
owned—to farmers being paid for certain goods in order to improve
the environment and reduce carbon emissions.
(Moray) (Con)
This issue rightly attracts a lot of attention. In particular,
schoolchildren in Moray often speak to me about biodiversity and
nature. Indeed, it is one reason why a nature Bill was included
in the Scottish Conservative manifesto for the Holyrood
elections. The Secretary of State has outlined the collaboration
that there was with Scottish Government Ministers out in Canada.
Can she state what ongoing discussions there will be with the
devolved Administrations to ensure that this crucial issue
continues to be raised at the highest level within Governments
across the United Kingdom?
Dr Coffey
My hon. Friend is right to highlight that collaboration, which is
vital when it comes to recognising the importance not just of
nature corridors, but of biosecurity, and it unites Great
Britain. There is also the work that we do through Northern
Ireland. Importantly, we have regular meetings with all the
Governments of the devolved Administrations, and we will continue
to do so. Nature is critical because of its self-evident
transboundary nature. Whether it is about species abundance or
about thinking of ways to reduce pollution, which has impacts on
nature, we will continue to work collaboratively right across the
United Kingdom.
(Brent North) (Lab)
I join the Secretary of State in paying tribute to the UK’s
officials for what they have achieved in the negotiations in
Montreal, and, indeed, to David Cooper, who, as deputy executive
secretary, has worked tirelessly for many, many years. She knows
that, despite 28% of England already being designated as
protected areas, scarcely 4% is actually being protected. The
target of 30% of our planet to be protected by 2030, however
desirable, is just that—a target. It is nothing without a
programme of implementation for the protective measures to
restore those eco-systems and stop the extinction of species.
That programme needs interim deliverable goals, yet in the
written ministerial statement last week, the earliest interim
target, against which the Government’s performance can be
measured, is 2037. Will she set out clear UK staging points
against transparent baselines, and does she accept that the
Paulson report on the financing of nature says not that £30
billion is required, but that £711 billion is required?
Dr Coffey
Let me just correct the hon. Gentleman on the last thing that he
said. What was published the other day was about the targets,
which, according to the Environment Act 2021, have to be for a
minimum of 15 years. The interim targets have not yet been
published. They will be included in the environmental improvement
plan and they are for a minimum of five years. Therefore, to get
the record straight, they are two different targets.
On making improvements, I completely understand what the hon.
Gentleman is saying. There are a number of situations where we
want sites of special scientific interest to be in a better state
than they are. That is why we will work through the environmental
improvement plan. That is also why we are taking advantage of
Brexit freedoms to make sure that we can redesign how the money
from the common agricultural policy, which currently supports
farmers and landowners, will be repurposed to make sure that
public goods are achieved, such as environmental improvement and
the tackling of carbon emissions.
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
Will this landmark agreement open the way for larger-scale uptake
of solutions such as mangrove and seagrass as a means of
capturing carbon and helping to tackle global heating?
Dr Coffey
My right hon. Friend may not know this, but I am mad for
mangroves. They are amazing. Unfortunately we cannot grow them in
this country, since we are not in the tropics, but we do have
salt marsh and we want to see increasing elements of that. I
expect to see a substantial amount of the funding from our blue
planet fund purposed towards mangroves; I believe we already have
projects under way in Madagascar and Indonesia, and we will
continue to try to develop those.
(Cardiff North) (Lab)
I have also recently returned from the international biodiversity
summit, COP15, where I met representatives from the Wampis
Nation, indigenous people from Peru. Their fear was palpable.
Their neighbours are dying and the world has cast them aside. Can
the Secretary of State tell me what the UK Government are doing
to prevent their extinction, and whether COP15 was a missed
opportunity to protect the rights of indigenous people?
Dr Coffey
Far from it. I appreciate that the agreement was only closed
earlier today, but it was a significant win for indigenous people
and local communities, which is why it played such a prominent
part in the negotiations. I think the hon. Lady is probably
behind the times, but I think it is important we continue to make
sure that—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady obviously wants an
Adjournment debate, and I am sure she might get one, but that
would just give us a further opportunity to say what a
magnificent achievement this was for the world and that it is
thanks to the UK Government making sure that it delivered, not
only for people in the UK, but for indigenous peoples and local
communities. We will continue to strive to make nature for the
planet a lot better than what we inherited from the last
Government.
(Harrogate and Knaresborough)
(Con)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on this statement and on all
her work and leadership on this issue. Protecting ecosystems and
halting biodiversity loss is critical to safeguard our planet for
future generations. Does she agree that maintaining international
leadership and making this issue central to Government policy is
the only way to ensure that the changes needed will be
delivered?
Dr Coffey
I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. That is why it was
important that when the Prime Minister went to Sharm el-Sheikh
for COP27, building on our COP26 presidency where we included
nature as a full day of the climate change conference, he
referred specifically to the fact that £3 billion of the £11
billion total climate financing will be dedicated to nature. He
recognises how critical it is, and we will continue to endeavour
to improve the natural environment not only in this country, but
around the world.
(Brighton, Pavilion)
(Green)
The agreement on a framework that commits to halting and
reversing biodiversity loss is of course very welcome. However,
it is a bit staggering that the Government’s own environment
targets, smuggled out late last week, will fail to deliver on
that goal. They do not even include goals to improve the
condition of protected nature sites or overall water quality. As
a priority, will the right hon. Lady align the Environment Act
2021 with the new commitments made in Montreal? Specifically,
with just 38% of SSSIs and 14% of rivers in good condition, will
she now commit to consulting on and setting those crucial targets
next year?
Dr Coffey
The hon. Lady is right to congratulate the world on recognising
that and the UK on its role in making sure that nature and
restoration were included in the text—and if she did not mention
our role, I can assure her that that was the reason it was put
back into the text early this morning. The indicators we
consulted on set out very clearly that the apex indicator was
species abundance. There are a number of other targets that will
aim towards that, and by achieving that, I am confident that we
will achieve some of the other targets to which she refers,
including of course increasing the number of hectares of habitat
for nature in this country.
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Protecting nature and increasing biodiversity is often led by
grassroots organisations. I invite the Secretary of State to
commend the work of the Friends of Miss Whalley’s Field, led by
Paul Wiggins in my constituency, which takes a piece of land
between the Freehold and Ridge estate areas of Lancaster and
plants trees and wildflowers, involving children from local
schools such as Castle View and Lancaster Christ Church primary
schools and Central Lancaster High School. Will she not only
commend the work of those volunteers, but reaffirm the
Government’s commitment that they will not return to
fracking?
Dr Coffey
I certainly commend the children and volunteers to whom the hon.
Lady refers. Fracking has nothing to do with what I am talking
about today. That statement has already been made separately by
Energy Ministers.
(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Addressing biodiversity loss is an essential part of addressing
climate change, but as with climate change, we see no sense of
urgency or leadership in action from this Government. Does the
Secretary of State accept that her Department’s failure to set
targets for water quality or habitat protections in England
undermined talks at COP15? She calls nature the “Cinderella of
the story”, but Cinderella was never forced by the ugly sisters
to swim in sewage. That achievement belongs to this
Government.
Dr Coffey
I can say that our beaches are cleaner than we inherited them in
2010 from the Labour Government—that is clear. The hon. Lady must
be very proud of the last Labour Government’s record of
achievement on that. I say to her that this matters not just in
our countryside and on our coast, but in our urban environments
as well. We already have targets on water quality. In fact, I was
discussing today with the Under-Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member
for Taunton Deane () who is responsible for
environmental quality and resilience, the approaches we are going
to take to try to improve water quality, particularly by thinking
about the chemicals in our water, which are particularly
problematic in urban areas. That is something on which we need to
work with local councils, as well as with the Environment Agency,
to try to get changes so that we clean up the water right around
the country. I am sure that the hon. Lady will join us when we
need to take appropriate action in her constituency in
future.
(Bath) (LD)
An historic deal has been reached today, including a global
target to conserve at least 30% of land and inland water at a
time when we know that not a single river in the UK is free from
pollution. The Government only last week scrapped the indicator
on river health, the only measure for water companies and the
public to know whether their water is clean. Without that
indicator, how will my Bath constituents know in future that
their water is clean?
Dr Coffey
I think the hon. Lady is incorrect in her understanding about
that. The targets are still in place on our aim to achieve for
our rivers a 75% “good” ecological status by 2027. That is what
we signed up to when we were part of the European Union, that is
still our target today, and that is what we will keep working on.
It is important that we continue to try to improve the
environment—she will know that, given the difficult things that
happened with air quality in her city—and we will continue to try
to make sure that we take that right across the country.
(Leeds Central) (Lab)
I join the Secretary of State and others in the House in
welcoming this important agreement, but it only means something
if countries do what they have signed up to do. Can she tell us
when she intends to bring forward any proposals that may be
required to ensure that we in the UK match the very ambitious
targets that have just been agreed in Montreal?
Dr Coffey
Through the Environment Act 2021, some targets on improving the
environment are already in primary legislation. We have just
confirmed pretty much the environmental targets that we consulted
on earlier in the year. I believe the statutory instruments are
being laid today, and I think one is being laid tomorrow, so that
Parliament can vote on those legally binding targets. Meanwhile,
we continue to make other improvements, including through the
clean air strategy, the biosecurity plan, existing plans for
increasing biodiversity, and landscape recoveries.
We are already doing a lot of work. Indeed, we are changing our
funding away from the basic payment system and what the European
Union did—making payments to improve the environment based on the
amount of land somebody owned—to paying for services, so that we
can do more spatial targeting in a more intelligent way by
improving water quality and reducing pollution. We will take that
forward in aspects of the environmental improvement plan, which
will be published next month, as well as in the changes that we
will make through the environmental land management scheme.
(Strangford) (DUP)
First, may I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, which is
really encouraging news? I think we are all excited by what she
said. As somebody who has been involved in prior biodiversity
drives and has planted some 350,000 trees on my land, I know that
other landowners will get involved if the incentive is there. I
am inspired by the aims, but will the Secretary of State outline
how she believes that the UK as a whole can achieve them, how the
devolved nations will play into them, and how we in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland can all win?
Dr Coffey
I thank the hon. Gentleman. I know that the people of Northern
Ireland are also keen to see enhanced nature. I recall my trip
earlier this year when I went to the Giant’s Causeway for the
first time ever and saw beauty in nature but also the force of
nature and a desire to continue to improve it. As for how we work
together, it will be up to individual devolved Administrations,
but I know that Northern Ireland Ministers and the Executive have
been very supportive of our approaches so far.
(Glasgow North) (Ind)
What impact is the UK’s decision to cut the aid budget from 0.7%
to 0.5% of gross national income having on the UK’s ability to
contribute to the 10-point plan for financing biodiversity?
Dr Coffey
We have actually increased the amount of official development
assistance going to environmental and climate change projects. I
am excited about that. We will continue to see more money coming
in from around the world, including from the private sector and
philanthropic donors, to help achieve these ambitious aims. I am
excited about the future decade.
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