Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Deferred
Paragraph: 76
Expedite implementation of Schedule 17 to meet global deforestation commitments by 2030.
Conclusion
The Government’s consultation on proposals for Schedule 17 implementation ended in March 2022, but secondary legislation has not yet been brought forward and the Government has not yet committed to a date by which it can be expected. While we welcome the Secretary of State’s recent clarification of the initial commodities which are to be within scope, and the turnover threshold to which the Schedule 17 regime is to apply, many details of the proposed scheme remain unclear. We are concerned that this leaves businesses with uncertainty and impairs their ability to prepare properly to meet the requirements of the regime. Under the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the UK has committed to ending deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, and at COP15 global agreements were made to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by the same deadline. With less than seven years remaining until 2030, the UK Government should avoid all further delay to ensure that the UK plays its part in meeting these vital goals.
Government Response Summary
The government detailed its commitment to invest at least £1.5 billion in UK International Climate Finance for forest protection and restoration by March 2026, and announced £576 million in new forests programming, but did not address the delay in bringing forward secondary legislation for Schedule 17.
Paragraph Reference:
76
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The government remains steadfast in its commitment to invest at least £1.5 billion UK International Climate Finance to protect and restore forests while delivering sustainable development over the ICF3 period (April 2021 – March 2026). We are on track to deliver on this commitment. Over financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23 (the first two years of ICF3), we have spent around £345m on forest programming (ref. Table 1 below) and continue to work to develop a robust pipeline of programmes and investments to deliver the remainder of our pledge by the end of ICF3. This also forms our contribution to the Global Forest Finance Pledge (GFFP), a commitment made by donors at COP26 to deliver $12 billion (£8.75 billion) to support forest protection, restoration, and sustainable management over 2021 – 2025. At COP28, we announced £576 million new forests programming, of which £466m will deliver support beyond ICF3. This included a £35m uplift in UK support for the Amazon Fund, and up to £500m for the second phase of our flagship Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme over the next ten years, which we expect to mobilise £2 billion in private investment, directly benefit half a million people – mainly smallholders and poor rural communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – and protect and restore forests across an area of 10 million hectares. The UK remains committed to transparency across our ODA support, the UK, together with GFFP partners, publishes a summary of progress made against delivering our collective $12 billion pledge annually in the Global Forest Finance Pledge Progress Report. Please find in Figure 1 below detail of UK ICF forest spend over financial years 2021– 22 and 2022–23. Note – this list is non-exhaustive and includes only programmes that disbursed monies over these two years. Figure 1 – UK ICF forest spend over financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23 Programmed Department SPENT BIOFIN Defra 605,000 Blue Forests Initiative Defra 2,072,102 Cities 4 Forests Defra 4,400,000 Nature Based Solutions/ICF R&D Programme Defra 4,768,400 UNDP Climate Promise Defra 4,200,000 Climate Investment Funds (CIFS) - nature based solutions DESNZ 65,000,000 IADB Amazon Bioeconomy and Forest Management Fund DESNZ 4,745,000 Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance DESNZ 2,000,000 coalition (LEAF) Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF) DESNZ 53,080,259 Partnerships for Forests DESNZ 5,000,000 BIPD Global Land Governance Programme (Land Tenure/ FCDO 4,310,652 Facility) Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) (under Africa FCDO 11,650,000 Regional Climate and Nature (ARCAN) programme) Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) Phase 1 FCDO 44,731,758 Global Environment Facility (GEF) FCDO 23,000,000 Green Climate Fund (GCF) FCDO 62,051,006 Green Economic Growth for Papua FCDO 1,794,759 Investing in Nature and Forests (INAFOLU) Indonesia FCDO 263,183 Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use Phase 1 FCDO 31,670,401 (IFSLU 1) Reducing Deforestation through improved Spatial FCDO 1,426,030 Planning in Papua Provinces, Indonesia Supporting a Sustainable Future for Papua’s Forests FCDO 310,871 TEFOS (Territorios Forestales Sostenibles), Colombia FCDO 10,223,173 UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK FCDO 7,909,929 PACT) Total 345,212,523