Trade Agreements: Environmental Protections

The Government are committed to pursuing environmental provisions in our trade agreements and to using our multilateral trade policy, diplomatic efforts and trade promotion activity, all of which support our green objectives.

The Government boast about the trade deals they have done and the environmental protections they have secured, so presumably they have had the chance to analyse the impact. Will the Minister tell the House whether the deals secured so far have improved or degraded our environment? What lessons have been learned for negotiating future deals?

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. Many of the agreements have actually, for the first time, included environmental provisions. If I recall correctly, he did not like the Australia trade deal, but it is the first time Australia has committed in a trade agreement to the Paris agreement and so on. When it comes to the impact of our trading policy over the last 14 years, he will also find, for example, that 86% of UK imports of palm oil—a key interest for environmentalists—are certified as sustainable, up from 16% in 2010. Again, we are seeing real results of UK trade policy moving in a much more environmentally friendly direction.