Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Paragraph: 25
We recommend that the Government urgently prioritise the development of the indicator on overseas environmental...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government urgently prioritise the development of the indicator on overseas environmental impacts of UK consumption of key commodities, since a better understanding of the environmental impacts of imported products is crucial to meeting the Government’s objectives in this regard. The indicator ought to be prepared for release not later than the date of the next Outcome Indicator Framework update. We also recommend that the Government commit to setting an environmental footprint target using this indicator once developed.
Paragraph Reference:
25
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Net Zero Strategy was published on 19 October 2021, ahead of the start of COP26. The “Embedding Net Zero in Government” chapter sets out how we will monitor progress to ensure we stay on track for our emissions targets. It includes commitments to “ensure that decisions taken on government spending are informed by their impact on meeting net zero” and to “require the government to reflect environmental issues in national policy making”. At fiscal events, including the recent Spending Review 2021 (SR21), all government departments are required to prepare their spending proposals in line with the Green Book on Appraisal and Evaluation issued by HM Treasury. The Green Book already mandates the consideration of climate and environmental impacts in spending. It was updated in 2018 to take fuller account of the natural capital impacts, and in 2020 to emphasise that policies must be developed and assessed against how well they deliver on the Government’s long-term policy aims such as net zero. SR21 investment decisions have been informed by data and evidence on the expected contribution of proposals to meeting net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and assessed within the context of the broader suite of policies set out in the Net Zero Strategy. In addition, the independent Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity was commissioned by HM Treasury and published in February 2021. The government agrees with the Review’s central conclusion: nature, and the biodiversity that underpins it, ultimately sustains our economies, livelihoods and well-being, and so economic and financial decision making must account for this. HM Treasury has convened a group of experts, including academic economists and scientists as well as practitioners, to produce supplementary guidance on Biodiversity Valuation for the Green Book, in addition to the guidance on natural capital. This will lead to new supplementary guidance to the Green Book for valuing biodiversity as part of appraisal for future fiscal events.