Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Paragraph: 41
Opportunity exists to strengthen sustainable procurement by learning from timber and palm oil.
Conclusion
There is an opportunity to learn from the experience of timber and palm oil procurement, and to strengthen and extend these approaches.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response focuses on recognising and supporting the land rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) through due diligence legislation and FCDO programmes, rather than addressing the recommendation to learn from and extend approaches used in timber and palm oil procurement.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
41
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
to a healthier, more sustainable food system. The current Government Buying Standard for Food and Catering services includes mandatory requirements for all palm oil to be sustainably produced and that at least 50% of coffee is fairly traded. It also sets a best practice standard that all coffee and cocoa is certified as fairly traded. The Government is currently undergoing a wide-scale review of the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering services and consulted on possible changes to public sector food and catering policy in the summer of 2022, including whether palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee should be demonstrably legal and sustainable. We are considering the outcomes of this consultation and how they can be best taken forward. Under the timber procurement policy, all timber products procured for use on the Government estate must meet the policy’s standards of legality and sustainability. We will consider the approach to forest-risk commodities when other relevant Government Buying Standards are next updated.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗