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1124135

registered interest
date	01/05/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture and Waste Disposal: Carbon Emissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce emissions in agriculture and waste management.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	249917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>Defra is committed to take action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. As the cornerstone of our future agriculture policy, the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) system will pay public money for the provision of environmental public goods, including mitigation and adaption to climate change. Our Clean Growth Strategy (CGS) and 25 Year Environment Plan also set out a range of specific commitments to reduce emissions from agriculture.</p><p>This year we have started to develop a new emissions reduction plan for agriculture, which will set out our long-term vision for a more productive, low-carbon farming sector. This policy development will be informed by research, modelling, stakeholder engagement and feasibility studies. We are establishing a Lowland Agricultural Peat Taskforce to identify how to protect our peat carbon stores and prevent further emissions. In addition we are making progress towards our target to plant 11 million new trees in this parliament and continuing to phase down fluorinated gases.</p><p>For waste, the majority of our emissions are in the form of methane generated by biodegradable waste breaking down anaerobically in landfill. We have made significant improvements in this area, with emissions from the waste sector falling by 70% since 1990. This is mostly due to the implementation of methane recovery systems at UK landfill sites, as well as policies such as the landfill tax reducing the amount of waste disposed of here.</p><p> </p><p>Further improvements will come from policies announced in the recent Resources and Waste Strategy, which are currently being consulted on. For example, we want to introduce a consistent set of materials to be collected across local authorities and municipal businesses, which would include food waste being collected separately. This is expected to divert a significant amount of biodegradable waste away from landfill and therefore lead to a reduction in the associated emissions.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 08/05/2019 14:47:30 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1109526

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Nature Conservation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) halt and (b) reverse species decline in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	240631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Domestic biodiversity policy is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only, except in relation to our plans internationally.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Government is taking a range of steps to both halt and reverse species decline.</p><p> </p><p>We protect a wide variety of our most threatened native species through the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulation 2017. These laws make it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or capture listed species, as well as damage or destroy breeding sites.</p><p> </p><p>Our agencies and non-Departmental bodies are working on species recovery projects with landowning and conservation partners, for example on freshwater pearl mussel, short-haired bumblebee and stone curlew.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Our 25 Year Environment Plan steps up our ambition further, setting long-term goals for recovering nature and setting out over 200 actions to enhance the environment including developing a Nature Recovery Network which will provide an expanding and increasingly connected network of places for wildlife to thrive. Our National Pollinator Strategy sets out actions to tackle risks to insect populations, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, pests and disease and climate change. We are supporting science-led restrictions on neonicotinoids, have introduced agri-environment packages to support farmers to put wild flowers back into fields, and continue to tackle threats from invasive species such as the Asian hornet. We have also consulted on an ambitious third tranche of 41 Marine Conservation Zones. Sites to be designated in this tranche will be announced and in place by 7 June.</p><p> </p><p>The ongoing declines in nature are a global problem that need a global solution. That is why the UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing a global post-2020 framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity that is ambitious and transformational. Our Darwin Initiative supports global action by providing grants to protect biodiversity and the natural environment, with £10.6 million awarded in 2018. Defra has contributed almost £6 million over the last three years to Darwin Plus for Overseas Territories’ biodiversity. We continue to support activities to end poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, and have recently passed new legislation to close our domestic ivory market, which will be the toughest ivory ban in Europe and one of the toughest in the world. The UK Government has committed to protecting the ocean and has called for at least 30 per cent of the ocean to be in Marine Protected Areas by 2030.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 08/04/2019 14:51:34 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1081724

registered interest
date	04/03/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Pollinators: Conservation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reverse the decline of pollinators.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	228062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2019 answer text <p>The National Pollinator Strategy is a 10 year plan published in November 2014, developed following a thorough review of the evidence base and wide consultation. It sets out how the Government, conservation groups, farmers, beekeepers and researchers can work together to improve the status of the 1,500 or so pollinating insect species in England.</p><p> </p><p>On farmland, since 2011, over 130,000 hectares in England have been set aside to create new wildlife-rich habitat, largely through our agri-environment schemes. In 2015 we also introduced new and simple agri-environment ‘packages’ to make it easier for farmers to provide flower-rich margins or pollen and nectar plots on fields to support wild pollinators.</p><p> </p><p>Natural England, our statutory nature conservation adviser, continues to work with a range of landowning and NGO partners to support the recovery of threatened species such as the barberry carpet moth, short-haired bumblebee and chequered skipper butterfly.</p><p> </p><p>We are supporting science-led restrictions on neonicotinoids based on scientific evidence that they carry risks to pollinators. We also continue to tackle threats from invasive species, such as the Asian hornet, and protect honey bees from pests and diseases through a nationwide team of bee inspectors.</p><p> </p><p>We gather data on the status of pollinators through a UK-wide pollinator monitoring and research partnership, established in collaboration with research institutes and volunteer organisations. The Government’s indicators of the abundance of UK butterflies show long-term declines since 1976 but no significant change since 2012. Our indicator of pollinating insects in the UK tells a similar story: overall distribution has declined since 1980 but has stabilised in recent years. We are keeping these trends under review as encouraging but not yet definitive signs of progress.</p><p> </p><p>The research evidence base on pollinators and pollination is constantly improving and we keep this under review through our advisory groups.</p><p> </p><p>The 25 Year Environment Plan commits to improving the status of insects. We will continue to work in partnership with scientists and practitioners for future generations to inherit a better environment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 07/03/2019 16:48:51 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1081727

registered interest
date	04/03/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Plastics: Packaging
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Plastic packaging plan: Achieving zero 'waste' exports, published by Policy Connect in January 2019, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a target of net zero UK exports of recyclable plastic packaging by 2030.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	228065
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>The UK is recycling more than ever and the Government is committed to increasing domestic recycling. Our approach in the Resources and Waste Strategy, from production through consumption to end of life, is focused on increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. This will grow the UK recycling industry and reduce the need to export recyclable waste. Waste is a commodity and these secondary materials will always have a global market. Exports from the UK will therefore form an ongoing part of our resource management where there is demand.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently consulting on reforms to the Packaging Waste Regulations and are seeking views on the issue of exporting of packaging waste. We want to ensure that export of packaging waste is done in an environmentally responsible way and that domestic reprocessors are not unfairly disadvantaged. The consultation includes proposals to better manage and control packaging waste exports, including through tighter monitoring and enforcement of existing export regulations. We will also be looking at a suite of measures on waste shipments including increasing monitoring, improved provision for waste repatriation, and charging higher fees to improve compliance in the near future.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 12/03/2019 17:53:12 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1077172

registered interest
date	25/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Recycling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce legally binding recycling targets after the UK leaves the EU.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	225611
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2019 answer text <p>The UK Government already has a legally binding target to recycle 50% of household waste by 2020.The Government has also stated that it would adopt the Circular Economy Package (CEP) target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by weight by 2035. The UK is currently considering options for transposing the CEP (subject to an implementation period) as well as consulting on the general provisions set out in the CEP.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 28/02/2019 10:00:52 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1077173

registered interest
date	25/02/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Plastics: Waste
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to address the problem of plastic waste at design and manufacture level.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	225612
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2019 answer text <p>The Government set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, published in January last year, its commitment to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and to reform the packaging producer responsibility system. Our Resources and Waste Strategy was published in December last year and contains details on how we will do this, including measures to incentivise packaging producers to make better, more sustainable decisions at the design stage and point of manufacture. Through reforming the current system we will require producers to fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market, once it becomes waste. We will strengthen the incentives of these reforms by also setting minimum ecodesign requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Other measures set out in the Strategy, as well as in the Budget 2018, will lead to an increase in the supply and demand for secondary materials. These include the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers in England, introducing consistency in household and business recycling collections in England and a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, all subject to consultation. These measures will provide a strong incentive for producers to design and make plastic packaging that uses less virgin materials and is more easily recyclable.</p><p> </p><p>The consultations setting out the Government’s proposals on the measures referred to above were published on 18 February this year and can be found at: <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/resource-and-waste-and-plastic-packaging-tax-consu-1" target="_blank">consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/resource-and-waste-and-plastic-packaging-tax-consu-1</a>.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 04/03/2019 15:01:57 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi