Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Conclusion 1
Second Report - The UK's footprint on global biodiversity
Published 30 Sep 2021
Paragraph 23
Environmental Audit Committee Biodiversity and Ecosystems All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Consumption patterns in the UK are unsustainable. Addressing these patterns is key to the UK’s contribution to the alleviation of global biodiversity loss. The first step is to recognise the need to reduce the UK’s overall consumption. We welcome that the Government has commissioned the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to develop a global environmental footprint indicator, but we are disappointed that the Government has not then committed to setting a global footprint target using this indicator to track progress in order to reduce the UK’s global environmental footprint.
From: Environmental Audit Committee, Second Report - The UK's footprint on global biodiversity (HC 674), paragraph 23, 30 September 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 February 2022 (deadline 30 November 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out domestic and international action on biodiversity, agreeing with some recommendations, such as support for a more ambitious species goal, while disagreeing with others.
- On a footprint target, the government says it will not consider setting one "until it can be certain that it would be supported by a robust evidence base" and avoids unintended consequences. It anticipates the new overseas-impact indicator will appear in the next (2022) framework update.
- On taxation, it agrees it is important to consider environmental impacts of relevant tax changes, but says it does "not agree with the Committee's specific recommendation" to assess every change, citing practicality and cost.
- On forest-risk commodities, it points to Environment Act due diligence rules on illegally occupied land and to other disclosure measures, rather than a wider ban covering the finance sector.
- On public procurement, it has "committed to a consultation on strengthening the GBSF in early 2022", and says it will take the Committee's recommendation on clear definitions into account in a review.