Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Conclusion 14
Fourth Report - The UK's contribution to tackling global deforestation
Published 4 Jan 2024
Paragraph 51
Environmental Audit Committee Sustainable timber and deforestation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Current UK regulation is not sufficient when it comes to limiting non-sustainable deforestation. It relies too heavily on the laws in exporting countries and an assumption that that these laws will incorporate adequate provision for sustainability: as currently drafted the Regulations take control of the UK’s impact on sustainable timber production out of the UK’s hands.
From: Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Report - The UK's contribution to tackling global deforestation (HC 405), paragraph 51, 4 January 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 March 2024 (deadline 4 March 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government responds to each of the Committee's 22 recommendations, agreeing with some (including on monitoring and on supporting producer countries) while declining to set a footprint target or widen the Government Buying Standards, and setting out its 'legality-based' approach to due diligence.
- On an environmental footprint target, the government "will not consider setting a target" until it can be certain that it would be supported by a robust evidence base and would not cause unintended consequences such as offshoring of environmental impacts.
- On monitoring, it "agrees" that tracking the global environmental impacts of UK consumption is important and will "continue to explore" how monitoring, measurement and reporting can be developed. It agrees on mined products, noting the work is in its early stages.
- On the Environment Act, it declines to prohibit commodities that are legal locally but linked to deforestation, saying it will "uphold and respect national laws". It says it is "committed to laying secondary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows".
- On timber, it "plan[s] to commence a review of the Timber Regulations in 2024", with stakeholder engagement details "announced in due course". It is "not currently considering widening the scope" of the Government Buying Standards.