Contributions
1,571 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRiver PollutionMy Lords, the Environment Agency’s State of the Environment : Water Quality report in 2018 is the most recent assessment of water pollution. We assess pollution levels to…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityThe noble Baroness is right. In addition to greatly increasing our investments overseas in cities to enable people to deal with the warming effects of climate change and to reduce…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityI always welcome debate, particularly around the issue of our magnificent overseas territories. My noble friend is right: the overseas territories contain about 90% of the UK’s…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityThe Government stand ready to support whatever action is necessary to boost biodiversity in this country and to reverse the depressing trends that have already been described. The…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityThe noble Lord is right in that, from 1970 to 2016 the relative abundance of priority species in the UK saw a dramatic decline of around 60%. Many but not all species groups show…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityAs the noble Baroness will know, we are currently engaging with stakeholders on the content of the England peat strategy and we expect it to be published later this year. The…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityWe do not dispute that protected areas, which include protected sites and landscapes and other measures, need to be better managed. The Government have been very clear on this…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionMy Lords, I certainly agree that much more needs to be done. I can tell noble Lords that a new task force has recently been set up between Defra, the Environment Agency, Ofwat and…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityMy Lords, in England the 25-year environment plan marks a step change in ambition for wildlife and the natural environment. The Government have announced significant funding and…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionChemicals come from almost all human activities. Much chemical pollution comes from domestic properties—for example, detergents, which go into the sewers—and that is going to…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionAMR is one of the greatest health threats that we face, and there is an increasing focus globally on the environment as a potential reservoir and conduit for it. We are conducting…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionThe noble Baroness makes an extremely important point. The department is actively looking at what more we can do using the new Nature4Climate Fund and the transition from CAP to…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionThe noble Lord is right: poor practice by farmers leads to run-off fertiliser, slurry, pesticides and various other chemicals, which are extremely damaging to river ecosystems.…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionThe Environment Bill that is soon to be introduced will, as I said, place a statutory requirement on water companies to produce drainage and wastewater management plans. In…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionI certainly agree with the noble Lord that raw sewage should only ever be released into water systems as a last resort and in exceptional circumstances. As I mentioned in a…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionThe Environment Agency takes water quality samples at all designated bathing waters during the bathing season. If the water fails in any way to meet the minimum standards, the…16 Sept 2020HANSARDRiver PollutionThose reports were based on comments by Sir James Bevan, but they were inaccurate; in fact, they were entirely wrong. Sir James was talking about the importance of environmental…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityWe are aware of reports that there has been an increase in wildlife crime, particularly that associated with raptor persecution, during lockdown. Raptor persecution is one of the…16 Sept 2020HANSARDBiodiversityIt is absolutely correct to say that we have failed to meet those Aichi targets. The Government have not sought to shirk from that or to mask the research that has been produced.…16 Sept 2020HANSARDINSPIRE (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020I thank noble Lords who have contributed to this debate. Having left the EU, it is essential that we have operable legislation in place to allow UK spatial data infrastructure…09 Sept 2020