Speeches by Hinchliff.

“Thank you; that is very clear. The MPA network covers 69% of Wales’s inshore waters. That sits at 51% for England and 22% in Scotland. Would you say that the commitments across the four nations are assigned in a fair and equitable way?”

“Professor Koldewey, I welcome your comments on that, but specifically given some of the comments just made about communities, management of environmentally protected areas can often conflict with commercial activities on which local communities rely. Are there any particularly effective methods that you would like to m…”

“Thank you very much. You have quite strongly pre-empted my next question, and possibly covered it to some extent, really. It was all about how the Government can ensure that all industries that use marine resources are environmentally sustainable in the long term and how they can work together to come to that sustainab…”

“I have a final question to pursue that a little further, because we have talked at a quite broad, high level there. Do you have any specific recommendations for how the Government can integrate that community-led approach with our current policy setting for managing the marine environment space?”

“They are, perhaps quite rightly. You have repeatedly said that we can meet our growth mission and keep within our carbon budgets. Since 2015, global GDP growth has been associated with an increase in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions every single year, apart from in 2020 during covid. The Energy Institute’s latest an…”

“To move on to a specific point, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is recently reported to have said that growth trumps everything. Does the work of the Growth Mission Board take priority over the Clean Energy Mission Board?”

“As a final point, I take it that the name is the AI Energy Council, but in your discussions on the resource demands of AI and data centres in the future, do you have discussions on water resources as well given the pressure on our water resources in this country? Is that being considered in those discussions?”

“Then I will finally move on to last point. As the co-chair of the AI Energy Council, how are you ensuring that the rollout of new data centres to support AI across the country does not compromise climate objectives due to energy demand?”

“Have you assessed or are you aware of the research by the New Economics Foundation that approving the expansion of Luton and Gatwick airports would wipe out the climate benefit of the Government’s clean power plan by 2050?”

“To return briefly to the point around aviation, you have said that the CCC’s advice on aviation expansion is absolutely the position of the Government. That referred to bringing forward an airport capacity management framework. Do the Government intend to bring that forward?”

“I am in absolute agreement there, but you did answer my question at the beginning. The answer can be no, although we accept the wider point that you make.”

“The more important question for my constituents who are concerned about our local environment is whether, under this Government, the answer can ever be no.”

“Last week, similarly, the Chancellor said that for the sake of growth, the answer cannot always be no when it comes to approving major infrastructure works.”

“Secretary of State, you know as well as I do that while there has been technical decoupling within our own economy, our demands impact resource consumption overseas, impact land use change overseas and lead to overseas industrial activity. I do not want to get drawn into this too much, but the Government’s position is …”

“Secretary of State, I have some final philosophical mopping up from my side.”

“I make a brief declaration of interest: my former employer, CPRE, supports the Bill. Does my hon. Friend agree that the rate of climate change that she is describing in her constituency poses an existential threat to our most loved landscapes, our iconic wildlife species, the pattern of our seasons and some of our most…”

“To follow up on that point then, are there specific locations where you would suggest across the country where dredging is a particularly relevant technique for continuing to manage flooding risk and how do you think that relates to the specific flooding risks that are arising as a result of climate change?”

“I do not know whether the Dr Sayers wants to feed into that before I move on to my next question?”

“I will go quite quickly because I am afraid I have some other business I need to shoot off to. My questions are in the first instance to Professor Hall and to Dr Sayers. There has been some quite some public debate over the role that dredging can play in reducing the impacts of flooding and it is certainly an issue tha…”

“Thank you. A final question to both of you. The Environment Agency has come into a fair bit of criticism for some of its approach to dredging from people who would like to see more of it. Do you have any recommendations that you would like to see us consider in our report for how the Environment Agency deals with the p…”