Thank you to those taking the time to contact me about climate change and nature. I share the deep concerns about the impact that climate change is having on our world.
Excellent progress has been made to strengthen global cooperation in the fight against climate change. Below are a range of updates on important topics.
River Pollution and Pesticides
Thank you for contacting me about the use of pesticides in farming.
It is important that we work to protect our environment for today and future generations. As one of the most active and longstanding campaigners for cleaner waters in Parliament, I would like to assure you that I am dedicated to this cause.
Agricultural productivity must not come at the expense of the environment. As you note, the overuse of pesticides has a devastating impact on the environment, people, and animals, and I am pleased that the Government has recognised the detrimental role that farming activities can play in the pollution of the UK water sources. I support the Plan for Water announced by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in April 2024.
The Government is working with farmers to reduce pollution and encourage better practices and reforms. The Catchment Sensitive Farming programme gives free advice to farmers to improve their practices. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, farmers are paid for actions that support food production and help improve farm productivity and resilience, while also protecting and improving the environment.
The incentive includes an agreement to not use insecticide, nematicide or acaricide on crops. It also encourages upgrades to infrastructure, such as roofing for manure stores to keep dirty water and effluent separate from rainwater to prevent contamination.
The Government has also made extra funding available to the Environment Agency for 50 new farm inspectors to ensure that agricultural diffuse pollution regulations are followed. This enabled them to conduct 4,000 farm inspections in the last fiscal year. I am assured that if the Environment Agency finds pollution or a significant risk of pollution, it will not hesitate to take further action. A new Water Restoration Fund will channel environmental fines into projects to improve the water environment.
We must continue to support our farmers to better their agricultural practice. Catchment Sensitive Farming is a programme run by Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The programme offers farm advice, training, and grants to help protect water, air and soil from pesticide damage and prevent their overuse.
I am pleased to see the Government's commitment to this cause. If we are to uphold the health of our rivers and natural environment, continued collaboration between farmers, regulators, and the Government is vital.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Meeting Net Zero
I was pleased to see that the Government recognises the importance of acting to combat climate change by making the UK the first G7 country to pass legislation on achieving net zero by 2050. I am also proud that the UK is a world leader in achieving net zero by decarbonising faster than any G20 country.
The British Energy Security Strategy and Net Zero Strategy set out how the UK will secure 480,000 well-paid jobs and unlock £100 billion in investment in 2030 on its path to ending its contribution to climate change by 2050.
Furthermore, the Energy Security Strategy outlined the Government’s commitment to bolstering domestic renewable energy production by increasing the production capacity of clean energy sources such as wind, nuclear, solar and hydrogen.
Some constituents have contacted me with regard to the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. As the primary mechanism used by the Government to support the development of low carbon power infrastructure, CfDs guarantee a set price for electricity that generators receive per unit of power output. This provides the generator with the certainty that they will always receive the value of the set price, even as the wholesale price of electricity fluctuates. CfDs are a vital tool in the UK’s transition to net zero, as they support the creation of a stable and long-term energy market.
CfD contracts are awarded through auctions. In the fifth CfD auction round, which took place in 2023, there were no bids from offshore wind developers, despite the UK’s position as a global pioneer of wind power, with five of the world’s largest offshore wind farm projects located here. This was a great disappointment, and I am pleased that the Government recognises that more must be done to support investment in this sector if the UK is to successfully transition to net zero.
In the 2024 Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced the allocation of £800 million to support offshore wind projects. This record amount means that as we approach the 7th CfD auction round, the budget for supporting offshore wind projects is four times what it was in the previous round.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is currently undergoing an analysis of responses to its public consultation on proposed amendments to CrD Allocation Round 7 and future rounds.
As part of the transition to net zero, one must recognise that energy is the lifeblood of the global economy.
Whilst the Government remains committed to achieving its net zero target, it must be remembered that oil and gas are required in the transition to net zero. The UK has made significant progress in increasing the capacity of renewable energy. Forty per cent of the UK’s electricity now comes from renewable sources of energy, compared to 7 per cent in 2010. This is a noteworthy achievement, but it does not signify that the production of non-renewable energy should be halted.
If we simply stopped their production domestically, it would be necessary to import oil and gas. This would leave the UK vulnerable to global circumstances, as well as reliant on expensive imports to ensure its energy security. The Government is therefore committed to maximising the vital production of UK oil and gas in the near-term, as the North Sea basin declines.
These measures are made alongside the Government’s commitment to increasing the reliance on renewable energy. This will ensure that in the long-term, the UK’s energy supply is secure, clean, and affordable.
Hedgerows
Thank you for contacting me about hedgerow protection.
As one of the most important tools at our disposal to achieve ecological sustainability, hedgerows provide our countryside with its distinctive character and are vital food sources and natural habitats for wildlife. They are of great benefit to our community by improving local air quality and must be protected.
The protection of hedgerows represents a key component of the Government’s Environmental Land Management Schemes. The Government is supporting farmers to maintain and restore over 10,000 km of existing hedgerows while creating an additional 4,000 km of hedgerows across the country, through the Countryside Stewardship schemes. I am pleased that as of January 2024, there were around 35,000 Countryside Stewardship agreements.
The Government has demonstrated its commitment to protecting our hedgerows by increasing the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) by 10% at the start of 2024. The SFI provide farmers with a financial incentive to assess the condition of hedgerows and manage them in a way that protects wildlife and improves biodiversity. This increased support for farmers will lead to an increase in hedgerows and flower-rich grass areas on the edge of fields across the country. This is a necessary step in the UK Government’s efforts to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and work towards achieving a healthy environment that benefits people and the economy.
Following multiple emails from constituents requesting that I do all I can to encourage the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to address any existing gaps in hedgerow protection in England, I wrote to DEFRA outlining their concerns. I am pleased that the response I received in March 2024 detailed the Government’s commitment to introduce regulation on the protection of hedgerows, following overwhelming public support for the proposals.
The proposed regulations will require a two-metre buffer strip measured from the centre of the hedge, where no cultivation or application of pesticides can take place, thereby preventing harm to the health and structure of the hedge. In order to protect nesting birds, the cutting of hedges between 1 March and 31 August will also be prohibited by the new regulation.
Sustainable farming
Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, farmers are paid for actions that support food production and help improve farm productivity and resilience, while also protecting and improving the environment. This includes actions relating to soil health, hedgerow management, providing food and habitats for wildlife, and managing pests and nutrients.
When adopted at scale by farmers, these actions will make a significant contribution to the Government’s statutory environment and climate targets, and support objectives to maintain food production and improve farm productivity. This includes the aim published in the Environmental Improvement Plan of between 65 and 80 per cent of landowners and farmers adopting nature-friendly farming on at least 10 to 15 per cent of their land by 2030.
Existing comments on biodiversity
Biodiversity loss is a global problem that needs a global solution. I welcome that at COP15, the UN biodiversity summit held in Canada, almost 200 countries agreed a new deal to protect nature. The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) includes a commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030. The GBF also commits to ending human-induced extinctions of known threatened species.
The UK played a leading role in the negotiations, building on the UK’s COP and G7 presidencies, including the Leaders' Pledge for Nature. This commits world leaders to taking action to drive sustainable food production, end the illegal wildlife trade and tackle climate change. Climate and Environment Ministers of the G7 have committed to the GBF’s swift implementation, as well as international climate finance to nature-based solutions.
The England Trees Action Plan sets out how the UK will treble tree planting rates. The £750 million Nature for Climate Fund is the main delivery vehicle and is focussed on peat restoration, woodland creation and management.
Finally, the Environment Act 2021 includes targets to clean up the country’s air, restore natural habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce waste and make better use of our resources. It also includes a target to halt the decline in species by 2030, as well as require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature and tackle illegal deforestation overseas.
Biodiversity net gain and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities will create and restore rich habitats that enable wildlife to recover and thrive, while conservation covenants will secure habitat for the long-term.
Deforestation in UK supply chains and due-diligence legislation
The Environment Act 2021 included world-leading provisions to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. The provisions will make it illegal for large UK businesses to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used.
To ensure that the provisions improve the environmental sustainability of businesses operating within the UK economy, those impacted will be required to publish annual due diligence reports on their supply chains, to assess and mitigate the risk that regulated commodities were produced on land illegally owned and used.
I understand that the Government is committed to implementing these provisions at the earliest opportunity through secondary legislation.
The Government has funded public dialogues on a range of climate and environmental issues in recent years which provide in-depth insight into citizens’ views to inform numerous policy areas.
Our response to climate change must be unequivocal and effective. It must bring with it the communities and the businesses that make the United Kingdom and set an example for the rest of the world to follow.
Constituents may be interested in my ongoing campaign to cut carbon, not forests, and to address the green-washing of unsustainable burning of biomass in the UK.
