Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con) I beg to move, That this
House has considered climate change and biodiversity. It is a
pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. Climate change
has triggered more extreme weather conditions, causing heatwaves,
droughts, high precipitation and flooding. Adapting to the impacts
of climate change in the UK and around the globe is necessary to
keep the human population safer. Taking steps now to adapt to
future...Request free trial
(Hastings and Rye)
(Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered climate change and
biodiversity.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray.
Climate change has triggered more extreme weather conditions,
causing heatwaves, droughts, high precipitation and flooding.
Adapting to the impacts of climate change in the UK and around
the globe is necessary to keep the human population safer. Taking
steps now to adapt to future change will make us more resilient
and less vulnerable to its impacts. Adaptation can include
traditional engineering projects, such as sea walls or other
coastal defences as sea levels rise, but the natural environment
also has a significant role to play. Adaption covers everything
from water storage to drought resistant crops, from green urban
areas to protecting and restoring natural, indigenous
ecosystems.
Nature-based solutions are often cheaper to implement and
maintain than alternative grey infrastructure adaption options.
When their multiplier benefits are taken into account,
nature-based solutions usually have a significantly higher
benefit-cost ratio.
The Climate Change Committee reports on progress on adapting to
climate change in England. Many of its recommendations for
improving adaption planning and implementation in England have
been taken up by the Government and their arm’s length bodies.
They accept the committee’s central message that they must take
greater action to build resilience to the impacts of climate
change.
The Climate Change Committee has advised that the UK should adapt
to a 2° warmer world for the period 2050 to 2100 and assess the
risks for a 4° temperature increase. It identified the eight
priority risk areas that need the most urgent action: the
viability and diversity of nature; soil health; the release of
sequestered carbon; crops, livestock and forestry; collapse of
supply chains for food, goods and vital services; power system
failure; human health and productivity; and risks to the UK from
climate change impacts overseas. Nature-based solutions can help
to address all these risks.
Analysis has shown that nature-based solutions can help to
address 33 of the 34 climate change risks identified as requiring
more action in the Climate Change Committee’s third “UK Climate
Change Risk Assessment”, including the eight risks requiring the
most urgent action.
The UK’s national adaption programme sets out potential actions
to address climate change risks. A recent report from the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds and the WWF-UK, “Nature-based
Solutions in UK Climate Adaption Policy”, highlights
opportunities for nature-based solutions in the UK and provides
recommendations on how best to use nature-based solutions to
deliver widespread benefits to both people and wildlife. I
respectfully refer the Minister to those recommendations.
The report highlights the opportunities and policy support needed
to implement nature-based solutions across the UK in ways that
deliver for nature, climate and people. It also outlines how
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offer opportunities to mitigate the eight key risks to the UK
identified by the CCC, while supporting the provision of public
and private goods.
A wide range of nature-based solutions is being deployed in the
UK. For example, sand dunes, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows
are helping to protect against coastal flooding. Restored and in
good condition, peatland can slow the flow of water during
storms. Urban trees, parks and sustainable drainage systems can
cool and retain moisture and reduce stormwater run-off, thereby
cooling down our towns and cities during extreme heat and
protecting against urban flooding.
One of the key recommendations of the RSPB-WWF report is that in
the upcoming national adaptation programme—the NAP3, for 2023 to
2028—nature-based solutions must be properly integrated and given
the opportunity to help us to adapt to a warming climate, while
also providing other carbon and biodiversity benefits.
(Bristol East) (Lab)
I agree with everything the hon. Lady is saying. I have two
points to make about attracting private-sector investment for
these nature-based solutions. First, we have to be very clear
about the carbon offsetting value of the projects. Secondly, when
the biodiversity net gain details of that strategy come forward,
we need to be clear that they are creating more diversity. Does
she share my concern that we are not really at the stage where we
can properly measure the multitudes of benefits of investing in
such schemes?
I completely agree with the hon. Member’s question. We need to
measure metrics and outcomes more thoroughly as part of the
process of using nature-based solutions to adapt to climate
change. That is absolutely spot on.
(Gloucester) (Con)
My hon. Friend’s debate highlights that it is in areas such as
hers, which are very vulnerable to flooding to the sea and other
urban floods, that the expertise on such complicated issues is
found. Does she agree that one answer to the question from the
hon. Member for Bristol East () is that private investment
could be attracted through recycling centres and former landfill
areas? We cannot build buildings on contaminated land, but there
is an opportunity to plant trees there, and that is exactly what
is happening in Gloucester right now.
I quite agree with my hon. Friend. We have an issue with leaching
from coastal landfill sites. We really need to think about that
when addressing what we are going to do with them, and we also
need to think about tree planting, not building developments.
I ask for the Minister’s thoughts on the key recommendation of
the RSPB and WWF report. Nature-based solutions contribute to
reducing our vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. They
are no longer peripheral, and the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs has already started to develop policies
that should be rolled out across all sectors. Nature-based
solutions need to be mainstreamed in policy by establishing
common goals, harmonising policy support and overcoming barriers
across all sectors.
Increased funding is required. There is reportedly a £5.6 billion
gap in the funding required to cover environmental gains,
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an integrated response to net zero and local community benefits.
But funding does not have to be the sole responsibility of
government. Three per cent. of private financing mobilised under
the 2018 Paris agreement went into adaptation, with more than 95%
going towards mitigation. Adaptation will increase resilience,
benefiting businesses and financial institutions, as well as
nature and people.
The UK needs a clear vision for the role of nature-based
solutions. They can be measured and monitored for their
effectiveness by using defined metrics, indicators and targets,
and standards can be set for high-quality nature-based solutions,
benefiting nature, our environment and people. They need to be
utilised.
(Rother Valley)
(Con)
I thank my hon. Friend for calling this debate. She is a doughty
champion for her constituents, who are very lucky to have her
represent Hastings and Rye. On her point about metrics, clearly
consumers want to invest in and buy products that are nature
positive and that support biodiversity. At the meeting of the
all-party parliamentary group on environmental, social and
governance, which the Minister was at, we talked about placing a
green tractor on everyday products—it would be an equivalent to
the Red Tractor mark—so that people would know that they were
buying British products that are aiding biodiversity in the UK
and helping restore nature. Does my hon. Friend think that is a
good way of encouraging the public and business to get behind a
nature-positive solution in the UK?
I thank my hon. Friend for a very good question. He is right: the
public do really appreciate it and really understand the need for
biodiversity. A very good message has been sent out, but the
green tractor route really highlights the importance of
biodiversity on the goods that people buy. I think it would be a
really good measure to take forward.
We have a window of opportunity to take action to adapt to
climate change and avoid the worst impacts, and political
commitment and follow-through across all levels of Government to
accelerate the implementation of adaptation actions is vital. I
believe that the Government have the will to do this. Climate
change will increasingly cause extensive, sometimes irreversible,
damage to ecosystems. This degradation of ecosystems increases
the vulnerability of people. The rise in weather and climate
extremes has led to some irreversible impacts, as natural and
human systems are pushed beyond their ability to adapt.
Nature-based solutions offer opportunities for cost-effective
adaption to climate change, while also providing benefits to
people and wildlife. Safeguarding biodiversity is fundamental for
climate-resilient societal development. Conservation, protection
and the restoration of land, freshwater and coastal ecosystems,
together with targeted management to adapt to unavoidable impacts
of climate change, reduces the vulnerability of biodiversity to
climate change and benefits us all now and into the future.
(in the Chair)
There are something like nine speakers and we have 38 minutes
left, so I ask Members to take approximately two or three minutes
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4.41pm
(City of Chester) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I
congratulate the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye () on securing this
debate.
The world is facing a global biodiversity crisis triggered by
human disruption to nature and the destruction of habitats.
Members across the House know the seriousness of the challenges
we face, but we also know we are nowhere near where we should be
given the critical condition our nature is in. One million
species are at risk of extinction due to human activity, but it
is not only individual species that are threatened. The collapse
in the abundance of nature also means that many of our ecosystems
are not functioning as they should. Climate change is driving
nature’s decline, and the loss of wildlife and wild places leaves
us ill-equipped to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to a
changing climate. We must recognise that the climate and
biodiversity emergencies are intrinsically linked and should be
tackled together.
Britain has faced a catastrophic loss in its biodiversity, with
41% of species having declined in abundance in the UK in the past
40 years. Of the G7 countries, we have the lowest level of
biodiversity remaining. Immediate action is required to reverse
current trends. The biodiversity crisis requires greater
ambition. I ask the Government to reconsider the ambition of
their biodiversity and environmental targets. In my constituency,
Cheshire West and Cheshire Council, along with local communities,
schools, businesses and partners and other organisations, are
committed to making Chester a greener city and to building a
community that people want and are able to live in now and in the
future.
We must see a more ambitious approach to nature recovery, with
local communities at its heart. The success of a nature recovery
corridor in my constituency, led by community groups and guided
by conservation experts, is an excellent example of how this can
work in reality. Does the Minister agree that conservationists
around the UK, such as those at Chester zoo, are in prime
position to empower local people to help tackle the biodiversity
crisis? Will she comment on what concrete plans the Government
are making to commit to more ambitious biodiversity and
environmental targets? We cannot put this crisis off any longer,
and we must work together to protect and recover our global
diversity.
4.44pm
(St Ives) (Con)
I welcome this important debate. It comes at a brilliant time.
Only yesterday the Prime Minister set up the Department for
Energy Security and Net Zero, which builds on the Government’s
commitments in recent years to all those who live in the UK and
around the world. Such an important development is welcome—and so
soon after the publication of the Skidmore review on net zero. As
I say, the formation of this Department is a clear commitment to
caring for our planet and taking our responsibilities seriously
to match and build on the commitments the Conservative Government
have made since we legislated for net zero in 2019.
In this debate, we are recognising the critical role of
biodiversity and nature-based solutions. We need to match our
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efforts to recover nature and biodiversity. It would be a tragic
shame to reach net zero but not reach our commitments to recover
nature, which is why this debate is so timely and important. It
can be done. We worry about food security and production in
relation to nature recovery, but I believe there is no
conflict—they can be done together and, in fact, they are
co-dependent.
(York Outer) (Con)
My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument. I completely agree;
there can be no conflict between delivering the food production
we need and reinvesting in the biodiversity we need. Does my hon.
Friend not agree that the key to ensuring that there is no
conflict is investment in new technology, which is something the
Government need to look closely at?
I agree completely. Time and investment must be given to ensure
that those technologies actually get to market and are
commercially viable. I would go beyond that: it is about not just
technology, but treating our land differently. A brilliant
example of that in Cornwall is our use of herbal leys, which my
hon. Friend will be familiar with, to increase the quality of the
root structure of the grassland and retain moisture. There are
all sorts of ways of providing better grazing land for cattle. It
is certainly about devices and technology, but it is also about
different ways of caring for the land from which we produce our
food and which sequesters carbon.
I recently secured a debate in support of the nature and climate
declaration, which embeds nature recovery in the road to net
zero. The Climate and Ecology Bill is a natural instrument to
build on this necessary approach. I am sure we will all be
hearing more about how that Bill intends to deliver on the key
things that were raised this morning by my hon. Friend the Member
for Hastings and Rye () who opened the debate. I
will leave it there.
4.47pm
(Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your stewardship and oversight,
Mr Gray. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye
(), who made an excellent
speech, on securing what is a really important debate.
In the two minutes I have, I want to talk about the uplands. They
are massively important to us as a country and hugely important
to our communities in Cumbria. They can be a massive contributor
to our fight against climate change. They are where we see water
management happen; 70% of our drinking water comes from the
uplands. Think of the peatland and soils there, which are vital
to carbon sequestration.
(Bath) (LD)
Very quickly on that point, the Somerset levels near my
constituency contain 231 square miles of peatland, which store
nearly 11 million tonnes of carbon. Every pound invested returns
about four times that in economic and social benefits. The
commitment to peatland restoration in the England peat action
plan covers less than 20% of England’s peatland.
(in the Chair)
Order. Interventions must be brief.
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Does my hon. Friend agree that we need better targets?
I am grateful for the intervention. Peatland is hugely
significant. It is more quickly restored than woodland and
therefore has greater capacity to tackle climate change as a
carbon sink. Our uplands are critical. While I support the
principles underlining the environmental land management schemes
and the transition payment for farmers, I think the ELMs at the
moment have badly let the uplands down.
I will give you some quick figures, Mr Gray. The current basic
payment rate for the uplands is £240 per hectare. With the new
sustainable farming incentive, the rate for the lowlands is down
to £151 per hectare; for the uplands, it is £98. Why is that?
There are many things we have lost from being outside the EU, but
one thing we have gained is the ability to not continue the
nonsense of providing support for farming through income forgone.
The idea that we compensate farmers only for what they might have
got out of that land use, had that been for food or other
production, rather than giving them the actual value of what they
do is a nonsense. I urge the Minister to do away with income
forgone as a way of calculating the payment rate and stop the
system that actively penalises farmers in the uplands.
I mentioned the value that the uplands can provide in the fight
against climate change and the need to value biodiversity in such
an important part of our country. We must also remember how
important they are to the landscape—and the economy—of the lakes
and the dales. There are 60,000 people who owe their jobs to the
hospitality and tourism industry in Cumbria, and we have a £3.5
billion tourism economy.
Based on what the Lake district and the Yorkshire dales look
like, it would seem wrong for the Government to—I
hope—accidentally transform in a negative way the landscape of
our communities, particularly in the lakes. My major ask is that
the Minister reconsider the payment rates for the uplands so that
we can value our upland farmers and tackle climate change in our
most beautiful places.
4.50pm
(North Devon) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye
()—an excellent MP—on
securing this important debate. I welcome the environmental
improvement plan from the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, although you will be delighted to know that I will
not read all of it. It follows the Environment Act 2021, the
Fisheries Act 2020 and Agriculture Act 2020 in laying out a path
to improve our environment and to make this a better and more
prosperous place for us and our wildlife.
Hedgerows are the perfect example of how the environmental
improvement plan will positively impact climate change and boost
biodiversity. As a hedgerow hero, I am proud to have worked with
the Campaign to Protect Rural England to increase hedgerow
coverage by 40% by 2050. The environmental improvement plan
announced the target of 30,000 miles of new and restored
hedgerows by 2037, and 45,000 miles by 2050. That will result in
360,000 miles of English hedgerows—10% above the 1984 peak.
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English countryside, providing a sense of continuity across the
changing seasons. They also provide biodiversity’s best friend—a
stable home for a bounty of flora and fauna. One in nine of the
UK’s most vulnerable species, such as the hazel dormouse, the
hedgehog and the brown hairstreak butterfly, rely on healthy
hedgerows.
Hedgerows also play a crucial role on our path to net zero. We
all know that planting trees and protecting peatlands are key to
capturing and storing carbon, but so are hedgerows. Unmanaged
hedgerows are estimated to sequester over 140 tonnes of carbon
per hectare, compared with 169 tonnes for a 30-year native
woodland. If hedgerows are properly managed, they can sequester
even more, both in their woody stems and in the roots below.
Strong hedgerows with healthy root systems also aid soil health
and reduce flooding. Farmers recognise those benefits, and more
are planting and restoring hedgerows. Some 86% of farmers believe
that hedgerows are important to them and their business,
recognising the benefits of developing a healthy and sustainable
natural environment for their land and livestock. Last month’s
ELMS announcement of the establishment of a hedgerow standard in
the sustainable farming incentive scheme in 2023 was a welcome
step.
As we go forward with our environmental improvement plan, it is
vital that we continue to support farmers as they invest in
sustainable practices. Leaving the EU has given us the freedom to
move beyond the basic payment scheme to support farmers in a more
targeted manner.
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD)
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill gives us only
until December 2023 to adopt or adapt 570 different pieces of
legislation on environmental issues. Given the crises that we
face, does the hon. Lady agree that we need to strengthen some of
those laws rather than simply retain them?
As is so often the case, I need to correct the hon. Gentleman on
the details of that legislation. We do not have to stop
everything in 2023; there is an opportunity within the sunset
clause to extend legislation beyond that point. Like my
Conservative colleagues, I will continue to work to ensure that
our environmental protections are strengthened and not
reduced.
(in the Chair)
Order. We are outside the scope of the debate.
To come back to biodiversity and moving towards net zero, it is
important that we boost our biodiversity to strengthen our rural
economies. So many steps that we have taken, which are laid out
in the environmental improvement plan, are key to that. It is
fantastic that, as part of the plan, DEFRA recognises the
importance of supporting green jobs and careers with
apprenticeships across forestry, ecology, countryside management,
the water environment and more, especially given that this is
National Apprenticeship Week.
As we face more frequent extremes of climate change, we need to
ensure that our natural environment is healthy and our
relationship with it is sustainable. By doing what we can, we
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4.54pm
(Stroud) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray.
Climate change is an absolutely huge subject and massively
important, particularly for our children’s and grandchildren’s
futures. It is really important to Stroud, because we are the
greenest constituency in the greenest county in the country, and
people passionately care about this issue.
I have tried to focus on a few campaigns, such as creating a GCSE
in natural history. I have also focused on wetlands and
biodiversity, so I was really pleased to have the Minister visit
us last week at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge,
which is the headquarters of the WWT. We got to show off our
wetlands, show her all six varieties of flamingos and introduce
her to Mr James, who is 70 years old.
I will get my asks in first, because I know we are short of time.
As we explained last week, the first is for Ministers to work
with the APPG for wetlands, which I chair, to reach our ambition
to create 100,000 additional hectares of wetlands in the country.
The second is for them to lead investment in natural flood
management. We can do that through local authorities having a
better strategic approach, through setting targets and through
funding with blended finance options.
My third ask is for Ministers to assist us to develop the
saltmarsh code, which is really important. As the hon. Member for
Bristol East () pointed out, we want to get
private investment into this work. To be fair to companies, they
get a really hard time: if they do something, they are told they
are greenwashing; if they do not do anything, they get into
trouble. We want to put evidence behind what we are asking them
to do, so that they can be confident when they are investing, and
that is what our code will achieve.
I would also like to see a specific domestic wetlands team in
DEFRA, because we have amazing, brilliant experts who focus on
things such as peatlands and biodiversity. I appreciate that
wetlands cross a lot of these areas, but giving us that focus,
with a team behind us, will ensure that we meet all our
ambitions.
Wetlands play a key role in helping to tackle climate change. The
issue of climate change gets a bit shouty sometimes, and very
shouty at other times, but when I talk to the public about
biodiversity and things such as wetlands, which they can see,
they get it. For the benefit of hon. Members in the room, I
should say that one of the conversations we had with the Minister
last week was about the carbon benefits of forests. The Minister
asked to the local experts, “How do the carbon benefits of
forests compare with the carbon benefits of wetlands?” The
experts’ response was, “They’re about 18 times better.” That is
absolutely extraordinary. It is not something that farmers or the
National Farmers Union understand properly yet, and we need to
get the evidence so that we can back it up.
We can do great things. We can help to hit this country’s net
zero targets if the Minister really puts her shoulder behind the
APPG for wetlands and all my asks.
My hon. Friend is making as powerful an argument for wetlands as
our hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye () did for nature- based
solutions. Does she agree that we can square all these things?
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contaminated land where we can put a new wood and have some green
energy, and down in Hastings and Rye there are all sorts of
different solutions to protect the sea. It is about recognising
the value of this great environmental plan and then implementing
it, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud () has in her
constituency.
I thank my hon. Friend, who is my near neighbour. We need to be
creative, to be open to ideas and to work together in our
fabulous constituencies. The focus from DEFRA is absolutely
brilliant—the Government and the country do not get enough credit
for the progress we have made on the environment—but with things
such as those I have suggested, we can also help the public to
see progress.
4.59pm
(Strangford) (DUP)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye () on setting the scene so
well. I am a huge supporter of biodiversity and, where
appropriate, rewilding. I declare an interest as a landowner and
a member of the Ulster Farmers Union. A number of years ago, I
made use of a scheme to plant saplings on the family farm, and we
planted 3,500. That was many years ago, and the area is simply
teeming with wildlife and various plants and foliage.
It is my sincere opinion that, for landowners to dedicate space
to promoting biodiversity or rewilding, there must be schemes to
make it worth their while. I know that that is not the Minister’s
direct responsibility—it is probably another Minister’s—but I ask
that she pass it on.
Given the price of saplings and seedlings, few landowners can
afford to voluntarily plant trees at this time, but I know
several who would if they had them and there was a scheme to
incentivise that. This is not the Minister’s responsibility, but
my local council back home—Ards and North Down Borough
Council—has taken a very successful approach to rewilding. It has
taken significant steps in the last couple of years to benefit
our borough’s biodiversity by altering and reducing our mowing
practices. That is something that councils can do without a lot
of expense—they can reduce mowing charges and rewild. The council
has rewilded 22,000 metres of closely mown amenity grasslands to
managed grassland habitats, which are capable of supporting a
much more diverse range of floral species, pollinators and
insects—how important it is to have our bees and pollinators in
place! My colleagues and friends down the road, Valentine and
Chris Hodges, gave us some native Irish black bees and five
beehives—they are still theirs, but they put them on our land,
and that adds to biodiversity. Councils are keen to do that back
home, and I am sure that the Minister will endorse that.
The council needs to have public understanding, and support is
key to the success of the project. Interpretive signage is part
of that as well. Studies have shown that, as well as the
biodiversity benefits, conversion from species-poor to
species-rich grassland can significantly increase the soil carbon
sequestration rate. In addition, a significant reduction in
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issue in what the council is doing—has reduced the council’s
carbon footprint. That is one thing that can be done.
In conclusion, I know that there would be greater buy-in if tree
planting was financially possible. Will the Minister therefore
tell us whether consideration has been given to funding schemes
that would allow for free plants and shrubs to be given to
people? That would allow more people to perhaps look at that wee
square in their back garden not as an extra piece of mowing to be
done, but as a chance to help our environment.
(in the Chair)
I thank and congratulate Back-Bench colleagues; we have got a
great deal into a short space of time. Thank you all for being so
prompt and courteous. We move to the Front Benchers, with John Mc
Nally.
5.02pm
John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)
It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr
Gray. I thank the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye () for securing this
important debate.
As our climate worsens, it continues to negatively affect our
biodiversity and threaten the stability of our natural world. The
issues that arise from that are inextricably linked to many of
the challenges we face as a society, and it is impacting our
health, wellbeing and prosperity. Given those growing threats, it
is about time that the UK Government stepped up and joined
Scotland in leading the world on the frontlines of tackling
climate change. We must work together as we prepare for the worst
effects of the climate catastrophe.
Climate change is simply an issue of justice; it
disproportionately affects the most vulnerable communities and
nations. Scotland was not only the first country in the world to
declare a climate emergency, but the first to introduce a climate
justice fund. That fund was set up to help the developing
countries most at risk to tackle the effects of climate change on
the frontline. Fulfilling our role in tackling the global climate
emergency is simply a moral obligation. The climate justice fund
was trebled to £36 million over this Parliament, in stark
contrast to the espoused global Britain led by a Tory Government
who would seemingly rather cut international aid. The Scottish
Government believe that a just transition is at the heart of our
nature recovery ambitions, which are focused on nature-based
solutions that create a greener, fairer and more prosperous
nation for all.
Meanwhile, the UK Government do not seem to believe in their own
consultations. In March last year, a UK Government consultation
produced a legally binding target to increase tree canopy and
woodland cover from 14.5% to 17.5% of England’s total land area
by 2050. That target was set to help to meet net zero ambitions
by 2050 and provide many other benefits, including the creation
of new wildlife habitats and a reduction in flooding by slowing
the flow of water off hills—all admirable ambitions. Despite
that, DEFRA decided to cut the target to 16.5%, claiming that a
“review of our evidence”—from its own consultation—now showed
that the lower figure was “the most ambitious target” that could
be set. One per cent. may seem trivial, but that equates to a
reduction of over 100,000 hectares in the total area to be
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enormous 37 million fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide being removed
from the atmosphere by the end of the century.
In response to the target being cut, DEFRA upped its recommended
ratio of conifers in the overall tree-planting mix. Foreign
conifers make much poorer habitats for wildlife than native
broadleaf trees, but they grow more quickly and, in the early
years, can store more carbon. However, even with the additional
conifers, the 16.5% woodland target would still leave 1.9 million
tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2050.
It is no surprise to me and other interested parties that 75% of
all the new woodland trees planted in the UK were planted in
Scotland. That is more evidence that Westminster should follow
the Scottish Government’s lead if it wants England to meet
decarbonisation targets and put in place biodiversity
protections.
In January 2022, the House of Lords Science and Technology
Committee published its report on the role of nature-based
solutions in mitigating climate change and achieving net zero by
2050. It argued that, although the Government’s plans for
nature-based solutions were “ambitious”, they were at “severe
risk of failure”. In addition, a report published in October 2022
by the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee
stated:
“Behaviour change is essential for achieving climate and
environment goals, and for delivering wider benefits. The
Government’s current approach to enabling behaviour change to
meet climate and environment goals is inadequate to meet the
scale of the challenge.”
Will the UK Government finally take heed, work with the Scottish
Government and commit to restoring nature and decelerating the
climate crisis?
In December 2022, the Scottish Government published the draft
biodiversity strategy for Scotland, which set out what our
natural environment needs for us to halt biodiversity loss by
2030, reverse it with largescale restoration by 2045 and protect
our environment for the future. As part of that, the Scottish
Government have made significant funding commitments to protect
and restore biodiversity. That is important, and it includes the
establishment of a nature restoration fund, which will provide at
least £65 million over five years to support large-scale natural
restoration. The Scottish Govt have also committed an additional
£500 million towards the natural economy over the course of the
Parliament.
I will finish by saying that if we want to change the world, we
need to get busy in our own little corner, and I believe that the
Scottish people and the Scottish Government are doing just that.
I would like Westminster to follow that lead.
5.07pm
(Cambridge) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I
congratulate the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye () on securing this important
debate. I commend Back-Bench colleagues on their brevity, and I
will prune my speech in a suitably nature-friendly way to fit
into the time. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for City
of Chester (), who praised her local
organisations for seeking to green their city. I strongly commend
them on their nature recovery corridor.Column 368WHis located
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It is almost five years ago that the House of Commons approved
Labour’s motion declaring a climate and nature emergency. Sadly,
the acknowledgment of that twin emergency does not seem to have
galvanised the Government into the kind of response that many
hoped for. We all know that we must halt and reverse the loss of
biodiversity by 2030 for the benefit of all people and the
planet. However, I am afraid that the Government’s actions often
seem to take us in the opposite direction, whether it is flirting
with fracking, seeking to reopen coalmines or letting off the
hook oil companies profit from the misery of war.
The Government are also threatening to allow 1,700 or so
environmental regulations to fall under the retained EU law
bulldozer. They breached the statutory deadline for setting
Environment Act 2021 targets and watered down those they
eventually did set. Five years into the 25-year environment plan,
not one of its 23 targets was assessed as being on track by the
Government’s own environmental watchdog. Frankly, the verdict of
the Office for Environmental Protection and its chair, Dame
Glenys Stacey, was completely withering.
As many have pointed out already this afternoon, our natural
carbon stores—peatlands, trees, woodlands, salt marshes and
wetlands in particular—are in decline; indeed, they are at high
risk of degradation in the extreme climatic conditions that are,
sadly, likely over the next 30 years. Wetlands in particular can
accumulate carbon for centuries, but in some areas of the UK we
have lost over 90% of our wetland habitat. As the hon. Member for
Stroud () pointed out, restored
wetlands provide rich habitat, clean water naturally and reduce
flood risk downstream.
Will the hon. Member give way?
Given the time, I will not; sorry.
We do not believe that the current ambitions to halt the decline
of species abundance in the UK are good enough. Frankly, the
latest targets are too weak. We must be nature-positive; we
should aim for a dramatic incline in species abundance. Nature
fundamentally underpins human health, wellbeing and prosperity.
By delivering for the planet’s nature, we also deliver for its
people, and Labour has always understood the importance of
viewing the environment through this twin lens. That is
especially important now, as we live through the worst cost of
living crisis in a generation.
We need to consider those living in communities plagued by dirty
air and water, and acknowledge that disadvantaged communities are
disproportionately impacted. These communities are also twice as
likely to be neighbourhoods without nature-rich spaces. We want
to see a UK in which everyone has proper access to wild places
and wildlife. A healthy natural world and more equitable access
to nature are key priorities for Labour.
We also understand the importance of doing our fair share to cut
UK emissions, in order to try to keep global heating down. Our
shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, my
right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (), has been clear on this,
and the shadow Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for
Leeds West (), has pledged an investment
of £28 billion every year until 2030 to tackle the climate and
nature crisis, and to create clean, green and secure jobs for
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In conclusion, we recognise that this is a cross-Government
challenge that needs focus from all of Government, so we have
committed to a robust net zero and nature test for every policy,
to create certainty for business and provide leadership to seize
the opportunities for the UK, while protecting nature here and
abroad. It is a historic challenge, one that we absolutely have
to meet, and Labour is determined to do just that.
5.11pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ()
It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship
today, Mr Gray, and a real pleasure to listen to my colleagues
speak so positively about nature-based solutions, including
wetlands, hedgerows and upland farming. However, I have to agree
with the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (), my constituency neighbour, that Cumbria is the
greenest and most pleasant county. Nevertheless, I must also say
to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud () how beautiful her
constituency is, in particular her wetlands at Slimbridge, which
was the very first of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s fantastic
sites that I have visited; I will say more about it later.
The debate today has been so positive, or mostly incredibly
positive, and I start, of course, by thanking my hon. Friend the
Member for Hastings and Rye () for securing it. How
timely it is, straight off the back of the environmental
improvement plan, which we published just last week.
I was really pleased to see that plan on the desk in front of my
hon. Friend the Member for North Devon () and to hear her speak so
enthusiastically about hedgerows, because I recognise the value
of hedgerows. I also recognise her value, as our very own
parliamentary hedgerow hero, who champions the benefits of
hedgerows for nature and carbon sequestration. Personally, I
would emphasise their benefits for foraging, too, because a
wonderful pie can be made from the brambles found in a hedgerow,
as well as many other tasty dishes. However, I will return to the
substance of the debate.
We absolutely recognise the urgency of climate change. Although
we are accelerating our efforts to end our contribution to
climate change, we must also continue to take action to ensure
that the country is well prepared to face the challenges that the
changing climate is bringing. Reducing emissions is key to
reducing climate impacts in the long term and our policies to
support net zero are crucial. However, climate change-related
events, such as droughts, flooding and wildfires, are already
impacting the natural carbon stores that we rely on to achieve
net zero. We know that our country and our world is going to
become hotter, drier and wetter, and that the impacts will be
colossal. Our third UK climate change risk assessment, published
last year, highlighted the risks and opportunities facing the UK
from climate change. There are risks to all sectors of our
economy, including the natural environment. We are addressing
these through the third national adaptation programme—NAP3—which
my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye mentioned. That
will be published later this summer. We are working with many
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Adaptation is mainstreamed across Government. All policies and
programmes need to consider the risks that climate change poses
to their success and build in adaptation actions to reduce these
risks. Those are all brought together in NAP3, which looks at the
63 risks. NAP3 actions include restoring and creating new
habitats for general resilience, as well as targeted actions,
such as protecting species that will be particularly vulnerable
to climate change. I have just been handed a note to say that I
have confused my numbers. I said the number of risks was 63, but
we are actually currently monitoring 61 risks in the national
adaptation plan.
Many of these actions will be delivered through the environmental
land management schemes. I want to thank my hon. Friends the
Members for St Ives () and for York Outer (), and the hon. Member for
Westmorland and Lonsdale for recognising the value that farmers
will bring to the nature-based solutions we will need for
adaptation. We can deliver this through environmental land
management schemes, be that countryside stewardship plus, the
sustainable farming incentive or landscape recovery.
To respond to the point by the hon. Member for Westmorland and
Lonsdale about how we are going to look after the upland farmers,
as an MP representing many upland farmers it is critical that we
do. We have an opportunity now as we leave the common
agricultural policy to move away from an area-based scheme and
toward much more targeted support created by England’s
politicians for England’s farmers. It is very much more targeted
to environmental stewardship and those three schemes.
I am really grateful to hear the Minister say that. We differ on
Brexit, but I think one of the silver linings of leaving the
European Union is that we can construct our own policy and are
not stuck on the old forms of income forgone as a way of paying
farmers. Would she look again at the upland rate for the
sustainable farming incentive, because that is what at the moment
is going to push many hill farmers out of business
altogether?
It will come as no surprise to the hon. Member that I am
challenging how we best support our upland farmers. I am from a
farming family myself and live in a farming community. In the
Lake District national park I see how hard our farmers work. They
are the original friends of the earth. They have created our
countryside for our enjoyment, particularly across the national
parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. The hon. Member
can be assured that I will continue to champion farmers while
also reviewing policy. While the environment is important,
farmers also need to be able to thrive and survive.
The Minister mentioned 61 risks, but does she worry, like I do,
that low uptake of ELM schemes could be one of those risks? Or
are there actually 62 risks?
It is absolutely the case that we need as many farmers as
possible to take up ELM schemes, but from the discussions I am
having in my constituency and with the Minister for Food, Farming
and Fisheries, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood
() in DEFRA, and from the pilots
we have undertaken with the sustainable farming incentive, we are
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we will constantly look at them to make sure they are as
attractive as possible to farmers, while also ensuring we provide
best value to the taxpayer.
The Minister is being very generous. It is very important that
farmers are incentivised, because they are the custodians of the
land. They want to do better. Let us be quite clear about that.
The thrust of the debate shows—and hopefully the Minister
agrees—that incentivising farmers is how we can help them to
achieve those goals.
Absolutely. There is no other industry or sector where knowledge
and experience is passed down the generations as it is in
farming. As a farmer himself, the hon. Gentleman will know that
only too well.
There will also be adaptation benefits from the new England-wide
system of local nature recovery strategies. That is how farmers
can come together to create wildlife corridors. I really did
disagree with the spokesman for the Scottish National party, the
hon. Member for Falkirk (John Mc Nally), because doing this in
our own corner just will not cut it. I can talk about the
importance of the UK on the international stage and the success
of the Secretary of State in encouraging countries right across
the globe to protect 30% of their land and seas by 2030 and a
whole raft of other measures. The climate sees no boundaries and
we need to work together. I, for one, am looking forward to
meeting with my counterpart in Scotland.
Local nature recovery strategies prioritise actions to drive
nature’s recovery. Part of our work on adaptation is to make net
zero policies resilient to climate risks, for example, by
planting tree species that will cope with future climate
conditions in their location; through ensuring nurseries are
stocked with a high-quality, diverse range of species; and by
ensuring that land managers have the right tools to make
decisions for the future.
The hon. Member for City of Chester () demanded more action. I
thought it would be appropriate to set out what we have already
achieved because that is sometimes forgotten. We have already put
in place legislation, backed by action, to address the concerns
that have been raised. That includes a suite of ambitious
statutory environmental targets under the Environment Act 2021.
Let us not forget that we were one of the first developed
countries to legislate for net zero and then we set out the
25-year environment plan. Although all of those targets will help
us to adapt to climate change, particularly relevant ones
include: ensuring that species abundance in 2042 is greater than
in 2022, and at least 10% greater than in 2030; and restoring or
creating over 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside
protected sites by 2042, compared with 2022.
Restoring our natural habitats has numerous benefits for helping
communities to adapt to climate change risks: natural flood
management, urban cooling and supporting the resilience of
ecosystems to climate change. As part of our commitment to a
nature recovery network, in May 2022, we launched five unique
nature recovery projects spanning nearly 100,000 hectares. They
will see the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitats,
corridors and stepping-stones. They will help wildlife
populations to move and thrive, provide nature-based solutions
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nature. One of the more recent pledges in the environmental
improvement plan is that no one should live more than 15 minutes
away from nature—a green space or a blue space.
The debate is about climate change, as opposed to just climate
change adaptation. I appreciate that adaptation is in the DEFRA
brief, but I am a little concerned that there does not seem to be
that joined-up thinking about the importance of nature-based
solutions for climate change mitigation as well. Those can be
incredibly powerful for carbon sequestration, whether that is
wetlands or planting trees. Is the Minister talking to colleagues
in the newly created Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
about how to ensure that those two things work together?
I think, Mr Gray, that the debate is about the role of nature in
adapting to climate change. I am prepared to stand corrected if I
have got that wrong.
(in the Chair)
The debate is on “Climate Change and Biodiversity”, so I think we
are all in order.
Jolly good. Yes, absolutely, I confirm that I speak regularly
with my counterparts elsewhere in DEFRA, which has been one of
the lead Departments, certainly for net zero, although the
climate change national adaptation plan involves many
Departments. However, mitigation is also a key priority in DEFRA,
where I speak with colleagues, although it the direct
responsibility of .
Moving on to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for
Stroud, her request to look at a target of 100,000 hectares of
wetland protected for nature was relevant. That is a worthwhile
ambition, and I will certainly ask my team to look into how we
ensure that we are sufficiently resourced in DEFRA to understand
the benefits. She said that 18 times more carbon is sequestered
in wetlands, compared with forestry, which is an impressive
statistic. Wetlands not only store huge volumes of carbon, but
act as natural sponges for floodwaters or as storm-breaks against
extreme weather events. Furthermore, I have seen children and
other people enjoying the wonders of wetlands, such as meeting
the most marvellous Mr James.
That is important, and others referenced the importance of
bringing society with us—I could not agree more. That is why goal
10 in the 262-page environmental improvement plan talks about
ensuring that we work with people and communities to achieve what
is absolutely necessary, as set out in the plan.
I have simply run out of time, although so much more could be
said on the subject. I look forward to further debates on a whole
raft of nature-based solutions, matters and the environmental
measures that the Government are taking. I assure the House that
we are committed to protecting nature, not just in England or the
UK, but right across the globe. Nature sees no boundaries, and we
are one of the very special places for migratory birds, as I
learned at Slimbridge. We need to achieve our targets
domestically, and to work with our counterparts across the globe.
Finally, I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and
Rye for sparking such a wonderful debate this afternoon.Column
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5.27pm
I thank the Minister for her response. Clearly, Members across
the House, representing all parts of the UK, have left us in no
doubt that biodiversity and nature-based solutions are vital to
this country in the actions we take to mitigate the effects of
climate change. I thank everyone for attending the debate.
Using biodiversity and nature-based solutions to adapt to climate
change is key. I welcome the Minister’s understanding of the
situation and the recommendations, Column 374WHis located
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and of our need to consider those and other policy measures by
working closely with the organisations that are expert in the
area on NAP3.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered climate change and biodiversity.
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