Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report by Global Witness, entitled Cash Cow, published on 23 June 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including cattle and cattle products in the regulations which will implement first phase of Schedule 17 of the Environment Act, in response to the findings of that report that cattle and cattle products are responsible for the largest proportion of the UK’s deforestation footprint globally.
Answer
The UK is committed to tackling deforestation and protecting forests, and has taken action through our world leading Environment Act to deliver that. We recently consulted on implementing a key measure of the Act, mandatory due diligence on forest risk commodities, and on 1 June 2022 we published the government response: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/933985/due-diligence-forest-risk-commodities-government-response.pdf