Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 24
Second Report - The UK's footprint on global biodiversity
Published 30 Sep 2021
Paragraph 129
Environmental Audit Committee Biodiversity and Ecosystems All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The publication of the first draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework provides a promising starting point, but elements of the draft lack ambition. • The 2030 mission should be clearer and stronger, and should align with the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature and G7 2030 Nature Compact to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. • The species goal (Goal A) is too weak. It should aim to stop human-induced extinctions and the goal should be made into a SMART target. • Target 8 on ecosystem-based approaches to climate change mitigation and adaption should include reference to nature-based solutions to climate change, so that more explicit links can be made between the UNCBD and UNFCCC processes. • The framework must address the need to reduce unsustainable consumption and production patterns from developed countries. We have already recommended that the Government start the process of setting an environmental footprint target by launching a consultation ahead of COP15 on how to model the overseas environmental impact of UK consumption.
From: Environmental Audit Committee, Second Report - The UK's footprint on global biodiversity (HC 674), paragraph 129, 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.