MPs call for UK ban on trade and financing of deforestation-linked goods
Environmental Audit Committee report also describes government biodiversity efforts to date as ‘lacking’ and argues ‘bold and ambitious action’ is required
The government needs to dramatically step up efforts to reverse biodiversity loss, and trading or investing in commodities that drive deforestation should be made illegal, MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) have demanded today.
A report by the Committee today, which comes just weeks ahead of the vital COP15 UN biodiversity summit in China, describes the UK government’s response towards tackling devastasting biodiversity loss to date as “lacking”, and sets out a host of demands for Minister to ramp up their efforts.
The report, which explores the UK’s impact on global biodiversity, urges both the government and business leaders to take a more active stance against biodiversity loss caused by products consumed in the UK, warning that the nation’s huge appetite for commodoties such as soy, meat, and timber that drive deforestation abroad is having a destructive impact on both nature and the climate.
A recent study by the RSPB and WWF estimated that an area equivalent to 88 per cent of the UK’s total land area was required annually for each year between 2016 and 2018 to satisfy UK demand for beef, leather, cocoa, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber, soy and timber. It also found that more than 40 per cent of the UK’s overseas land footprint was in countries with high or very high risk of deforestation, poor labour standards and weak governance arrangements.
Philip Dunne MP, who chairs the EAC, stressed that government, business, and consumers were all contributing to the widespread destruction of nature and extinction of species.
“Our committee’s findings are clear: we must bring consumption to a sustainable level or the wildlife, animals and nature we hold dear are threatened,” he said. “While this issue is bigger than any one person’s habits, if we all take action to tackle unsustainable consumption, we can make a lasting impact to halt biodiversity loss.”
The UK government is currently drawing up rules to ban businesses from selling items which use raw materials linked to illegal deforestation abroad, although campaigners have argued the ban should include all deforestation, whether or not it is deemed illegal under local rules. For example, a raft of UK supermarkets and retailers have threatened to boycott products from Brazil over a law proposed in Brazil’s parliament that environmental campaigners claim could legalise further destruction of the rainforest, and would therefore not be covered by the UK government’s currently proposed rule.
Moreover, at present the rules proposed by the government do not apply to financial firms investing in such commodities, only firms which trade in them.
But today MPs on the EAC urged the government to make it illegal for UK firms and the finance sector alike to deal and invest in commodities linked to deforestation – whether legal or illegal in the local region – and recommends introducting an environmental footprint target that measures and calculates the impact goods imported to the UK are having on the global environment.
“Global deforestation and the UK’s contribution to it cannot be tackled without bold and ambitious action,” the report states. “This should include moving to deforestation-free supply chains. The finance sector should be included in due diligence obligations if the UK is to avoid funding deforestation through lending and investments.”
The MPs also recommend the government embed more robust sustainability criteria into public procurement policies, making the case for Ministers to update the ‘Government Buying Standard’ – the food and drink procurement rulebook for government bodies, army services and NHS trusts – to ensure that all ‘forest-risk commodities’ purchased by public bodies are certified as sustainability produced.
The government should also embed considerations about deforestation, biodiversity, and other key environment protections into the trade deals it brokers with other countries post-Brexit, according to the report. It argues all trade agreements should deliver ‘net gain’ for the environment and should be subject to a sustainability impact assessment.
The recommendation comes just weeks after reports emerged that the government it dropped key environmental considerations from its recent trade deal with Australia to get the agreement “over the line”, with a binding section that referenced the “Paris Agreement temperature goals” nixed from the accord after pressure from the Australian government, which is widely regarded as a climate laggard on the international stage.
“We have a unique opportunity with new trade agreements to incorporate iron-clad standards for the environment, among other issues, which should be urgently addressed,” Dunne said. “Deforestation must be managed effectively, and we must ensure that every supply chain and the operations of the finance sector in the UK are free from unsustainable deforestation.”
Dunne stressed UK had an opportunity to be a leader on biodiversity action at COP15 summit, which will kick off next month and wrap up in the Spring. National governments at the talks are set to thrash out the terms of a headline treaty to halt global destruction of biodiversity, akin to the Paris Agreement brokered in 2015 for climate.
“This government can really show leadership on these issues ahead of COP26 and the biodiversity COP next year: I hope it steps up to the challenge,” he said.
Welcoming the report, Matt Williams, climate and land programme lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank, emphasised the importance of biodiversity and nature restoration in helping to achieve net zero emissions.
“Biodiversity has a major role to play in helping to achieve net zero emissions,” he said. “One of the major drivers of the loss of biodiversity and of climate change is the global loss of forests. But many food companies and supermarkets have said that the UK’s law to halt deforestation doesn’t go far enough in focusing on illegal logging, not all deforestation. If governments want to have the best chance of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C then stopping deforestation needs to be at the top of their list.”
However, responding to the EAC’s recommendations, a spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insisted the government’s environmental ambitions were already world leading.
“We have set challenging commitments because climate change and biodiversity loss need to be met with decisive action,” Defra said in a statement. “That is why the Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth, supported by a legally binding target to halt species decline in England by 2030.”
Confirming that Defra would respond to the EAC’s recommendations in due course, the spokesperson pointed to a number of policy programmes designed to protect nature and incentivise farmers and land owners to deliver environmental enhancements to their estates.
“We are also investing more funding than ever in nature, including through the £640m Nature for Climate Fund and the £80m Green Recovery Challenge Fund, as well as rewarding farmers and land managers for delivering environmental benefits, including mitigating and adapting to climate change and protecting biodiversity.”
